TRAGEDY

Airbus crashes

11-28-2008 | AP

Panama Star PARIS. PARIS – An Airbus A320 passenger plane owned by Air New Zealand crashed off the coast of southern France during a maintenance flight Thursday, killing at least two of seven people on board,

The plane plunged into the Mediterranean sea 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) east of the French city of Perpignan, near the border with Spain, at around 4:45 p.m. local time (1545 GMT), according to the local government office Two bodies have been recovered at sea, it said

The airplane was operated by a German charter airline.