Airbus A320, Jet in Tuesday’s Germanwings Crash, Has Strong Safety Record
The Airbus A320, the type of plane that was involved in Tuesday’s crash in the French Alps, is flown by every major U.S. airline and has a strong safety record.
More than 6,000 A320 family jets – which include the A319 and the A321 – are in service across the globe.
There have been some major accidents, however, involving an A320. It was an A320 that Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger safely ditched in the Hudson River in 2009 with no loss of life after a bird strike caused both engines to fail. Last December, AirAsia Flight 850, also an A320, crashed into the Java Sea, killing 162 passengers and crew members. The cause of that accident is still under investigation.
The A320 is a twin-engine single-aisle aircraft that seats 150 passengers in a typical two-class configuration. The first A320 entered service in March 1988 and the A320 project itself dates back to 1981.
The Germanwings plane, registered as D-AIPX, carried the manufacturer serial number 147 and was delivered to Lufthansa in 1991. It had accumulated roughly 58,300 flight hours in almost 46,700 flights. It was powered by two CFM 56-5A1 engines.
(Photo: Accura Media Group)
