Science Group Wants New Airbus Plane Grounded Until Proven Safe

Science Group Wants New Airbus Plane Grounded Until Proven Safe

April 28, 2005

Amsterdam (AP) - A leading European scientific organization has called
for the indefinite postponement of commercialization of the Airbus
A380, the company's latest jet to hit the runway.

"According to the precautionary principle, which forms the backbone of
European scientific regulation, the A380 should not be permitted to fly
unless its absolute safety can be proven," said Jeremy Ehrlich,
president of the Euro-Science Union (ESU). "The precautionary principle
has been used to determine European policies on topics such as global
warming, genetically-modified foods, the use of certain chemicals, and
other issues, so it ought to be applied to the A380 as well."

The precautionary principle embodies the idea that it is better to
avoid harmful activities than to try and rectify any resulting after
the fact. In this way, it appeals to the common-sense idea that "it is
better to be safe than sorry."

It stems from the German 'Vorsorgeprinzip', or foresight principle,
which emerged in the early 1970s and developed into a principle of
German environmental law, and has since flourished in international
policy statements and agreements - initially recognised in the World
Charter for Nature, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly in
1982, and subsequently adopted in the First International Conference on
Protection of the North Sea in 1984.

The Airbus A380, a double decker plane capable of carrying 840
passengers, held its maiden flight yesterday in Toulouse, France, but
the plane was 140 tons below its capacity weight at take-off. In
addition, there have been "unexpected and significant difficulties"
with the rear end of the plane when tests were carried out on it,
according to Germany's Der Spiegel magazine. The landing gear is also
causing engineers concern, the magazine reported.

According to Ehrlich, the weight added by passengers and cargo could
prove hazardous.

"Such a large plane has not been flown before on a commercial basis, so
we must use precaution," he said. "Otherwise we may be risking
disaster. The onus is on Airbus to prove that the plane is absolutely
safe, and the planes should remain grounded until they do so."

Ehrlich added that refusal to apply the precautionary principle to the
A380 would be inconsistent with European environmental and human health
policies.

"After using the precautionary principle to ban genetically-modified
foods which we know have never harmed a single person, wouldn't it
would be hypocrital of us not to apply the same principal to the A380,
which could potentially kill hundreds of people in a single crash?" he
asked.

When asked about the ESU's concerns, spokesmen from Airbus refused to
comment.