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XL Airways

French authorities stymie Air NZ A320 crash probe: report

by Nevil Gibson | Saturday December 27, 2008 | 4 comments

Investigators looking into the late November crash of an Air New Zealand Airbus A320 aircraft on a maintenance flight off the southwestern coast of France have been hindered by both a separate French criminal probe and failures to retrieve data from the plane's so-called black boxes, a report in the Wall Street Journal says.

Quoting sources that are “familiar with the details,” the paper’s reporter says “unusually few clues have emerged about possible causes.”

Air NZ A320 crash: Flight recorders located (Saturday update)

By NBR staff | Saturday November 29, 2008
French search and rescue teams have located flight record devices but not yet recovered them from the Air New Zealand Airbus A320 that crashed into the Mediterranean Sea near Perpignan. Air New Zealand Group General Manager International Airline Ed Sims says the operation is continuing through the night with up to 75 personnel actively involved, with a focus on recovering bodies, locating the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder, and recovering debris that may be useful for the investigation.

Air New Zealand leased plane to troubled airline group

by Sarah McDonald | Friday November 28, 2008 | 1 comment

The parent company of the airline that was leasing the crashed Air New Zealand airbus A320 went bust in September (for developments see Latest news).

And XL Airways Germany, which only operates eight planes, had another serious incident last month in which a plane engine caught fire.

The Air New Zealand plane crashed into the sea early this morning as it was approaching the airport at Perpignan, where it had been undergoing maintenance.