A German Air Force Global 5000, operating for the German Government, almost crashed at SXF today, after encountering serious problems during a test flight.
The German Executive Transport Wing (Flugbereitschaft) has made quite a few headlines recently, as their aircraft break down left and right, leaving government members stranded all across the globe. Most notably, chancellor Angela Merkel recently showed up late at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, after her A343 suffered a full losscomm. She had to be rebooked to an Iberia flight the next day.
Today, an unconfirmed number of crew members were on a test flight with a Bombardier Global 5000 (reg 1401) that came fresh out of maintenance. Shortly after takeoff, the aircraft started to roll uncontrollably. The crew issued a 'mayday' call and attempted an emergency landing at SXF. They made it down in one piece, but suffered wing strikes on both sides during the landing.
The aircraft received substantial damage. The crew members were tended to by medical services, but appear to be okay.
1401 (file photo)The so called "white fleet" of the German Executive Transport Wing operates:
2 x Airbus A340-313X (regs 1601, 1602)
1 x Airbus A321-231 (1504)
3 x Airbus A319-133X (1501, 1502, 1503)
4 x Bombardier Global Express 5000 (1401, 1402, 1403, 1404)
Source (German):
https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschl ... 63133.html
Ideology: The mistaken belief that your beliefs are neither beliefs nor mistaken.