16. June 2020

OCCAR achieves first A400M acceptance with full delegation from DE

The Transfer of Title of A400M MSN103 was signed on 16 June, becoming the 87th aircraft delivered to Nations under the OCCAR contract. However, this one was an important achievement for OCCAR, as it was the first one to be completed with full delegation from Germany, allowing OCCAR to perform the inspections and functional checks on their behalf, and also completed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

OCCAR team after visual inspections (CIG) completion (11/05/2020)©Airbus

Under normal circumstances, the Buyer Delivery Team (BDT), composed of experts from Nations and OCCAR Seville team members, is in charge of the Individual Aircraft Acceptance and Delivery. However, the mobility restrictions imposed around Europe due to the COVID-19 pandemic made it impossible for German BDT members to be present in Seville for MSN103 acceptance. All stakeholders were involved in defining a workaround solution.

Airbus and OCCAR crew after first CAM flight completion (20/05/2020)©Airbus

Final agreement was achieved, delegating visual inspections and functional checks to the OCCAR Seville team. Following this approach, activities started on 4 May, with the visual inspections of all elements of the aircraft. Functional checks started on 12 May with an Engine Run, followed by further on-ground demonstrations, and peaking with two Customer Acceptance flights on 20 and 27 May, logging a total of 5h and 30min flight time, where all systems were successfully checked. Additionally, DE BDT colleagues were updated daily by OCCAR team members, and technical discussions were also held using OCCAR tele-conferencing tools, allowing DE to have proper visibility on the ongoing activities.

All these activities were performed following strict H&S measures to minimise COVID-19 exposure, which required special efforts from everybody. With good will and hard work, all parties managed to avoid a halt in the production line, which would have caused a serious knock-on effect on subsequent aircraft.
Eventually, MSN103 performed its ferry flight to Germany on 22 June with a crew who travelled to Seville on another DE A400M.

For more information on the programme, please visit our web.