(NSI News Source Info) PARIS, France - January 21, 2011: Airbus Military is investigating the loss of part of a refuelling boom over the Atlantic during testing of a tanker plane being developed for the Royal Australian Air Force.
The European planemaker does not expect the incident to delay the first delivery of the aircraft, which is scheduled for February, a spokesman said on Thursday.
However, the mishap comes at a critical time for Airbus parent EADS (EAD.PA) as the United States evaluates whether to buy tanker planes from the European group or rival Boeing (BA.N) in a contract worth up to $50 billion.
A decision on that deal is expected as early as next month.
The incident happened over the Atlantic on Wednesday at 1600 GMT during inflight testing between an EADS MRTT tanker plane and a Portuguese air force F-16 fighter, the spokesman said.
The boom, or refuelling arm, was damaged when it lost one of its two stabilising fins, making the device uncontrollable.
The cause of the incident was not reported.
"We are flying in almost operational conditions," the spokesman said. "We hope to determine the origin of the malfunction and proceed with deliveries. At this point we don't see any delay in the first delivery next month," he said.
The damaged aircraft was not among the first two planes due to be delivered to Australia.
Both EADS and Boeing have experienced technical problems or delays with their most recently sold tanker aircraft.
(Reporting by Tim Hepher; editing by Alexander Smith)
* Boom damaged in incident over the Atlantic (Stuttgart: A0J3C9 - news)
* Airbus (Paris: NL0000235190 - news) says mishap won't delay first plane delivery
* First A330 tanker to arrive in Australia in coming weeks (Adds EADS comment, update on Boeing (NYSE: BA - news) tanker deliveries, WASHINGTON to dateline)
PARIS/WASHINGTON, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Airbus Military on Thursday said it was investigating the loss of part of a refueling boom over the Atlantic during testing of a tanker plane being developed for the Royal Australian Air Force.
The European planemaker does not expect the incident to delay the first delivery of the aircraft, which is scheduled for February, a spokesman said on Thursday.
However, the mishap comes at a critical time for Airbus parent EADS (EADSF.PK - news) as the United States weighs a decision on whether to buy tanker planes from the European group or rival Boeing in a contract worth up to $50 billion.
A decision on that deal is expected as early as next month, although some industry officials say it may slip into March.
The incident happened over the Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday at 11 a.m. EST (1600 GMT) during in-flight testing between an EADS MRTT tanker plane and a Portuguese air force F-16 fighter, the spokesman said.
The boom, or refueling arm, was damaged when it lost one of its two stabilizing fins, making the device uncontrollable.
The cause of the incident was not reported. Refueling planes, or aerial tankers, are used to refuel fighter jets and other military planes in mid-flight, extending their ability to get to distant battlefields if needed.
"We are flying in almost operational conditions," the spokesman said. "We hope to determine the origin of the malfunction and proceed with deliveries. At this point we don't see any delay in the first delivery next month," he said.
The damaged aircraft was not among the first two planes due to be delivered to Australia.
Aerospace analyst Scott Hamilton from Leeham Co LLC said the incident would likely further delay delivery of the Airbus A330-based tankers to Australia, which are already two years behind schedule.
"The timing couldn't be worse for EADS with the contract award for the (United States Air Force) only weeks away," Hamilton wrote on his blog.
Both EADS and Boeing have experienced technical problems or delays with their most recently sold tanker aircraft.
EADS expects to deliver the first A330-based tanker to Australia "in the coming weeks," said Guy Hicks, a spokesman for the North American unit of EADS.
Boeing declined to comment on the Airbus incident.
Boeing spokesman Felix Sanchez said Italy had accepted the first of four 767-based tankers to built by Boeing on Dec. 29, and arrangements were being made to fly the plane to Italy.
In September, Boeing and Italy had said that Boeing would deliver the first two tanker planes by the end of 2010.
Sanchez said work continued on the delivery process for a second tanker, but Boeing and Italy had agreed to "further enhance present capabilities on the final two Italian KC-767 tankers," which would delay their delivery. He gave no revised delivery schedule.
(Reporting by Tim Hepher and Andrea Shalal-Esa in Washington; editing by Dave Zimmerman and Maureen Bavdek)
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