Airbus CEO Says A400 Million Black Box Data Recovered

Airbus Group NV Chief Executive Tom Enders said data from the black boxes on the A400M military transport plane that crashed this month in Spain has been extracted, though Spanish authorities have not yet shared the crucial information.

"So far we have not had access to the data" though it has been available for more than a week, Mr. Enders told shareholders in Amsterdam.

Extracting the information wasn't simple and in one case involved sending the box to its manufacturer, L-3 Communications, in the U.S., Mr. Enders said.

The May 9 crash, the first of an A400M, killed four of six Airbus employees on the plane. The other two were critically injured, though Mr. Enders said on Wednesday their condition was improving.

Airbus last week alerted operators that the plane requires one-time checks of the so-called electronic control units on each of the four engines before the next flight. The electronic box helps translate pilot commands into instructions on how the engine should operate.

Airbus also instructed operators to perform additional checks in case of later engine problems. Airbus said it found the issue, seen as a flow in the system's software, during its own analysis of what may have caused the crash.

Mr. Enders said Airbus wants access to the black box data, which stores conversations in the cockpit and, more critically, a large number of system parameters, to validate whether its hypothesis about the crash is accurate.

The U.K., Germany, Turkey and Malaysia grounded their transport planes after the crash, although France continued using the aircraft. Spanish authorities also told Airbus to stop flying newly built planes for the time being.

Mr. Enders said the data from the black boxes is crucial to determining exactly what caused the accident, take corrective action and gain clearance for the planes to start flying again more widely.

Mr. Enders said the crash would have an impact on the program, which was already behind schedule. He said he's optimistic the accident "will not have a very detrimental impact on the aircraft deliveries and the cost situation in 2015.

The A400M program is several billion dollars over cost after repeated delays during its development. The program is unprofitable over the 174 aircraft already ordered, with pressure on Airbus to win additional deals to make money with the aircraft.

Airbus in January made management changes to the program and since then "the situation is markedly improved," Mr. Enders said.

Write to Robert Wall at [e-mail]

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