The two new water-scooping aircraft were officially unveiled as recently as the beginning of June. Now it's one on the ground, after problems during Wednesday's flight. A technical investigation of the plane will begin on Thursday, says Saab's press manager Ann Wollgers.

Based on Skavsta

The aircraft, which is of the AT-802 Fire boss type, belongs to the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, but it is Saab AB that provides both aircraft and crew, including logistics and maintenance. The plane is based at Skavsta in Nyköping and that was also where the pilot would land after a test flight on Wednesday afternoon.

Controlled landing

According to Ann Wolgers, the pilot perceived that there was some kind of fault or disturbance at the landing site before the landing, and therefore decided to carry out a controlled landing on the water instead. The firefighting aircraft have pontoons and are built to land on both land and water.

- We have taken up the plane and now it is being transported to our hangar in Nyköping, says Ann Wolgers.

How long the investigation may take - and when the plane may be in the air again - Saab can not answer at present.