Aicraft maker Airbus has issued an alert to all operators of its new A400M cargo plane to check the software in its engines, after a fata crash earlier this month.
The Alert Operator Transmission (AOT) was issued on Tuesday and requires operators to carry out a one-off check of the Electronic Control Units (ECUs) on each engine before the next flight, in order “to avoid potential risks in any future flights.”
The ECUs form a key part of the software system which controls the carrier’s turboprop engines, according to Reuters.
An A400M crashed while on a test flight in Spain on 9 May killing four crew.
The “black box” data has not yet been released by a Spanish judge so it is presumed that the potential area of weakness which led to the alert was identified by Airbus independent of that investigation.
"It is a precautionary measure which is part of our continued airworthiness activities," a spokeswoman told the newswire.
People familiar with the matter told Reuters that the investigation was likely to focus on installation errors rather than the design of the engines themselves, although more will be know in time.
The A400M was designed as a cargo and troop carrier to replace the likes of the Lockheed Martin Hercules.
At €20 billion ($22bn) it’s believed to be Europe’s biggest defense project, but it has faced a string of technical problems over the past few years and sold to just one export customer – Malaysia – according to the report.
The majority of A400M operators have halted flights until more is known about what caused the crash. Only France is continuing with its operations.
The incident brings to mind the catastrophic crash of a Spanair plane in Madrid in 2008 which killed 154 passengers on board.
It emerged that trojan malware may have interfered with a computer system used by maintenance staff to check for defects – leading to an unsafe aircraft being allowed into service.