Crew rescue unlikely in French test crash

PERPIGNAN, France, Nov. 28 (UPI) -- The seven crew members on board an Airbus test flight that crashed near the French city of Perpignan will likely not be rescued, a prosecutor says.

An unidentified Perpignan prosecutor said while five naval vessels searched for any sign of possible survivors in the Mediterranean Sea, poor weather conditions made any hope of a rescue highly unlikely, Deutsche Welle said Friday.

A witness to Thursday's crash said the Airbus A320 jet appeared to suddenly turn downwards until it crashed violently into the sea off the French coast.

"I could see it was an airliner because I saw two large engines. There was no fire, nothing," the unidentified witness said.

"It was flying straight. Then it turned brutally towards the ground. I said to myself it will never pull out and there was a big spray of water," he added.

The test flight had been manned by two German pilots and five New Zealander crew members.

Deutsche Welle said a full investigation into the crash is under way to determine what caused the apparently fatal incident.