Malaysia grounds Airbus A400M after Spain crash - state news agency

Airbus shares also hit following A400M crash in Spain

KUALA LAMPUR/ PARIS: Malaysia has grounded its Airbus A400M military transport plane following a crash involving a similar aircraft in Spain at the weekend, state news agency Bernama reported on Monday.

The Royal Malaysian Air Force received the first of four A400M aircraft in March this year. It is the first export customer for the A400M outside of the original launch nations, according to Airbus.

An Airbus A400M plane crashed outside Seville on Saturday, killing four test crew and prompting Britain and Germany to ground the troop and cargo carrier.

Read: Military plane crashes outside Seville airport in Spain

Later in the day, Shares in European aerospace giant Airbus fell more than three per cent in opening trade Monday.

In opening trades, shares in Airbus were down 3.36 per cent, underperforming the wider market which was down less than one percent.

France, which has six of the planes, has said it would only carry out "top priority flights" with the A400M until more facts emerge on what caused the accident.

Spanish authorities on Sunday located the two cockpit recorders and handed them over to the judge leading the investigation into the accident.

The military transport plane crashed in a field and burst into flames just north of Seville's airport after hitting a power line during an apparent attempt at an emergency landing.

Four people on board died while another two, a mechanic and an engineer, were taken to hospital where they were in a serious but stable condition.

The crash was the first involving one of the aircraft, which Airbus assembles at a plant in Seville.

There are a total of 12 A400M planes in use at the moment -- France has six, Britain and Turkey have two each and Malaysia and Germany each have one.