Video: First Flight of American’s new Airbus A319

American will soon take delivery of their first Airbus A319.  The new plane is set to enter into service September 16 on four routes: DFW/Charlotte, DFW/Cleveland, DFW/Memphis, and DFW/Wichita.

Back in late June the new plane was photographed on the flightline at Airbus’s factory at Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport in Germany.

Now we have some video!

Approach and Landing  at Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport – Maiden Flight

 

Notice the small propellor looking device spinning underneath the plane?  I learned that it’s a RAT, otherwise known as a Ram Air Turbine. A RAT is a small turbine connected to a hydraulic pump, or an electrical generator, and it’s used as a power source during an emergency.

You can hear it being deployed 13 seconds into this video.

 

Approach and Landing at Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport – Second Flight

And here’s a video of the plane as it finishes its second flight.

 

Approach and Landing at Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport-  Third Flight

Another nice video.

 

This first A319 will have a registration number of N8001N. I’m not sure when it’s supposed to be delivered, but American has been saying that it will happen sometime this month.

This weekend Ben shared some photos of the interior, which include a few images of the new seatback inflight entertainment system that’s being installed in both First Class AND the Main Cabin!