New terrorism??
"""TOULOUSE, June 10, 2006 (AFP) - The aircraft manufacturer Airbus said Saturday that three cables were found cut on an Airbus A380 that was being assembled at its Toulouse factory in southwestern France.
An internal investigation is underway to determine what happened and why, said an Airbus spokeswoman, adding that any indication of sabotage has not been established.
The aircraft maker did not indicate in what part of the plane or on which particular aircraft the cables were severed.
The incident was reported in Saturday's edition of the local newspaper Dépêche de Midi as "sabotage" which "took place at night, at a time when there are fewer staff around," the newspaper said.
Local police were called in to witness the damage, it added.
The double-decker A380, which can transport between 555 and 840 people or 40 percent more than the US rival Boeing 747, is the largest commercial airliner ever built — 240 feet in length and 80 feet high, with a wingspan of 88 feet
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Airbus is scheduled to deliver the first two A380 models to Singapore Airlines at the end of the year. The four prototypes, the first of which made its maiden flight in April 2005 in Toulouse, the home of Airbus Industrie, have now totaled more than 1,000 flying hours.
Thus far, 16 airlines have lodged a total of 159 firm orders for the Airbus plane.
Airbus is a fully consolidated subsidiary of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS). EADS owns 80 percent of the aircraft manufacturer and BAE Systems of Britain holds 20 percent. |
