Airbus announces crew for A350 XWB First Flight

When the first A350 XWB to fly, known as MSN1, makes its maiden flight, an international crew of six will be on board, comprising two Flight Test Pilots, one Test Flight Engineer and three Flight Test Engineers.

 

2 test pilots and the Project test flight engineer will be located in the cockpit:

·         Peter Chandler, an Experimental Flight Test Pilot with Airbus since 2000 and Chief Test Pilot since 2011; He was closely linked to the testing of the Airbus A380 and he will be piloting a maiden flight for the first time in his career.

·         Guy Magrin, an Experimental Flight Test Pilot with Airbus since 2003 and Project Pilot for the A350 XWB. He is a French former squadron leader and ex-A320 and A330 pilot.

·         Pascal Verneau, who has held various positions in Airbus' flight test division since 1999 and is the A350 XWB Project Test Flight Engineer. He supported development testing of the A380 and A340-600.

A350 XWB Project pilots have been heavily involved in cockpit and systems design and integrations from the operational perspective.

 

The 3 remaining first flight test crew members, all of them Experimental Flight Test Engineers, will be working at dedicated flight test stations and managing the progress of the flight profile:

·         Fernando Alonso, Flight Test Engineer with Airbus since 1982 and Head of Airbus Flight & Integration Test Centre since 2007

·         Patrick du Ché, Flight Test Engineer with Airbus since 2001 and currently Head of Development Flight Tests since 2012.

·         Emanuele Costanzo, Flight Test Engineer with Airbus since 2004 and lead Flight Test Engineer for the Trent XWB engine.

 

Airbus has been familiarizing the crew with MSN1 through twice-weekly simulator sessions, each lasting up to 5 hours, using its Aircraft Zero integrated test system. Aircraft Zero connects a simulated cockpit to the "iron bird" rig featuring the A350's primary control systems.

 

During the First Flight Ceremony, Flight operations chief Fernando Alonso will also participate in the speeches after Airbus CEO F.Bregier and A350 Program Manager D.Evrard.

Based on the article “Airbus names A350 flight-test crew” published in FlightGlobal