Air New Zealand’s (Auckland) on November 27, 2008 lost its Airbus A320-232 ZK-OJL (msn 2500) that had been on lease to XL Airways Germany as D-AXLA. Operating a post-maintenance flight (flight GL 888T), the airliner crashed into the Mediterranean Sea four miles (seven kilometers) east of the French city of Perpignan, near the border with Spain. The seven people on board were killed, including four Air New Zealand representatives. ZK-OJL had previously been operated by ANZ’s subsidiary Freedom Air in the unique Warner Brothers cartoon character color scheme.
French prosecutors said they would not press charges against any one involved in the tragic crash after they received an investigators’ report that blamed pilot error.
The crew lost control of the Airbus A320 and crashed it into the seas as they tried to perform a low-speed test “in inappropriate conditions” off France’s Mediterranean coast, the prosecutors said.
The accident investigation bureau (BEA) said in its interim report based on flight data recorder readings that the plane stalled during a low-speed, low-altitude test maneuver as it was approaching to land at Perpignan Airport.
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Copyright Photo: Gunter Mayer. Pictured before the tragic crash at Nuremberg, Airbus A320-232 D-AXLA (msn 2500, ex ZK-OJL) operated with basic blue XL titles.
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