Free Republic

WASHINGTON – Nobody trains for chaos like this. Out the pilots' left window, far above the ocean, an engine as big as a bus had disintegrated, blasting shrapnel holes in the Quantas Airlines 380 superjumbo's wing. And now an overwhelming flood of computer alarms was warning the pilots that critical systems might be failing. "The amount of failures is unprecedented," said Richard Woodward, a fellow Qantas A380 pilot who has spoken to all five pilots. "There is probably a one in 100 million chance to have all that go wrong." But it did. Engine pieces sliced electric cables and hydraulic...

Airbus expresses worries on strike disruption Thu May 10, 2007 6:58AM EDT Top News Taliban commander Dadullah killed in Afghan clash | Video Cheney talks with Egypt on Iraq and Iran U.S. National Guard chief says funds lagging risks Airlines risk ballooning frequent-flyer payout More Top News... Email This Article | Print This Article | Reprints [-] Text [+] PARIS, May 10 (Reuters) - A senior Airbus official warned on Thursday that some deliveries slated for 2007 could be delayed to next year unless workers end wildcat strikes over jobs. French plants have been hit by a series of unofficial...

Aboard an Airbus A380 -- So this is what all the trouble was about. ....SNIP.... Announcing the latest production setback, Airbus parent European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. said last year that the accumulated two-year delay would wipe $6.2 billion off profit by 2010. ....SNIP.... "Like the 747, it should be operating for the next 40 years," Liberge said. "The demand is definitely there -- this isn't another Concorde."

Nineteen pictures of the 380 including interiors. Quite a difference between first/business classes and coach.

BLAGNAC, France - European aircraft maker Airbus SAS on Friday launched production of its A380 "superjumbo," the biggest ever commercial airliner, stepping up its challenge to U.S. rival Boeing Co. which has staked its future on a new mid-sized jet. During a ceremony attended by French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, Airbus unveiled the first fuselage at its new $435 million assembly plant near the southern city of Toulouse. The 545-acre site will receive sections of the plane built by Airbus workers in France, Germany, Britain and Spain and transported to Toulouse on specially constructed ships, river barges and trucks. The...