Saab’s fighter plane caught fire on runway
Swedish defense firm Saab’s Jas Gripen combat jets caught fire after an emergency landing on Thursday.
| Related news: • Saab 'optimistic' to win Brazilian air force deal |
On Thursday 2.30 p.m. a Jas Gripen caught fire after an emergency landing at Kallinge airport in southeastern Sweden, the TT news wire writes. The pilot escaped unharmed.
The incident comes in a delicate time as Saab is in final talks in a multi-billion-dollar tender to supply Brazil's air force with modern combat jets. Saab's Gripen NG is up against the proven F/A-18 Super Hornet made by US group Boeing and France's high-tech Rafale fighter by Dassault.
However, Saab is not worried that the crash will have any negative effects on the negotiation process.
“When it comes to fighter planes accidents and crackdowns happen every now and then, but we have good statistics compared to our competitors” Anna Lindh, spokeswoman at Saab, said to daily Dagens Nyheter.
This was Gripen’s sixth such incident since their launch in 1993.
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Last Updated (Friday, 07 August 2009 10:41)
