Airbus Airbus A350 XWB (MSN3) is in Bolivia for high altitude tests. These will take place on the aerodromes Cochabamba (at an altitude of about 2500 meters) and La Paz (at an altitude of about 3650 meters).
Tests performed at very high altitudes are important for any type of aircraft. Operations at high altitudes require a lot of engines, aircraft systems and auxiliary power unit (APU). The purpose of these tests is to validate the full functionality of the engines and the entire aircraft under extreme conditions.
Landings and take-offs will be made under different conditions, simulating engine failures. The performance of the engines when taking off and landing will be evaluated, the behavior of the autopilot will be analyzed at the automatic and go-around landings.
From the almost complete the first flight of an Airbus A350 XWB, which took place on 14 June 2013, MSN1 and MSN3 test aircraft accumulated over 800 flight hours on approximately 200 flights. Airbus will use 5 A350 XWB aircraft for testing and will accumulate over 2500 flight hours.
At the same time, the wings of the Airbus A350 XWB have clearly passed the load tests. These were made in December 2013, and on the wings were applied loads up to 1.5 times greater than those that the aircraft could meet in its activity. The tests were applied on a static A350 body, which was specially built to demonstrate the structural integrity of the aircraft.
The rigorous testing system will lead to the certification of the Airbus A350-900 model by the EASA (Europe) and FAA (USA) authorities, before entering the operational service in Q4 2014.