Airbus begins assembly of final A350 XWB test aircraft

Airbus announced (04-Nov-2013) assembly of MSN5, the fifth and final member of the A350 XWB flight test fleet, is now underway with the fuselage joining process. MSN5 is the second of the A350 flight test aircraft that will feature a passenger cabin. This aircraft will fly for the first time in spring 2014 and will be used essentially to perform cabin related flight tests. It will also participate in the 'Early Long Flights' where the "passengers" are Airbus employees. This allows the cabin and related systems to be submitted to near realistic operations in order to ensure a mature cabin at entry into service. In addition, MSN5 will carry out route proving flights to demonstrate to the certification authorities that the aircraft performs perfectly in airport operations.To date the two A350 XWB test aircraft, MSN1 and MSN3 have recorded up over 500 flight test hours in more than 100 test flights. [more - original PR]