On 7 May, a Spanish Air Force (Ejército del Aire) Airbus A400M Atlas military transport was damaged following a bird strike.
The aircraft was on approach to Zaragoza Air Base, located around 262 km northeast of Spain’s capital Madrid.
There were no injuries in the incident even though the aircraft suffered substantial damage to its under-fuselage near one of the aft wheel well.
Spanish Air Force has 27 A400M aircraft on order. The first A400M was delivered to Spain in November 2016. The first 14 aircraft are expected to be delivered by 2022 and the rest 13 will be delivered from 2025.
Airbus A400M Atlas is a multi-national, four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed by Airbus Military (now Airbus Defence and Space) as a tactical airlifter with strategic capabilities to replace older transport aircraft, such as the Transall C-160 and the Lockheed C-130 Hercules.
The A400M is positioned, in terms of size and payload capacity, between the C-130 tactical airlifter and the C-17 Globemaster III strategic airlifter. Along with the transport role, the A400M can perform aerial refuelling and medical evacuation when fitted with appropriate equipment.
The aircraft is powered by four Europrop TP400-D6 engines rated at 8,250 kW (11,000 hp) each.
The A400M operates in many configurations including cargo transport, troop transport, and medical evacuation. The aircraft is intended for use on short, soft landing strips and for long-range, cargo transport flights.
The A400M’s maiden flight took place on 11 December 2009 from Seville, Spain and the first aircraft was delivered to the French Air Force in August 2013.
