Airbus Yanks A400M off U.K. Flying Display on Gearbox Hitch

Airbus SAS said its A400M won’t participate in daily flight demonstrations at the Farnborough Air Show after it discovered a fault in the gearbox, the second consecutive year a glitch has grounded the military airlifter.

“We found metallic chips in one of the gearboxes and the origin is not yet identified,” said Maggie Bergsma, a spokeswoman for Airbus Military, which is building the plane. “This adds an element of uncertainty to behavior of engines, which is not compatible with the type of low-altitude, complex maneuvers typical of flight displays.”