Four killed in first Airbus A400M crash

Emergency services personnel work in the area after the plane crash near Seville airport. Photo / AP

At least four people have been killed in the crash of an Airbus A400M military plane near Spain's southern Seville airport during a training flight, the first fatal accident involving the new transport craft.

Andalusia's regional prefect Antonio Sanz, who heads the local administration, said a burnt body had been found in the wreckage, bringing the death toll to four from Saturday's crash.

Previously a spokeswoman for emergency services had said "there are at least three dead and two seriously injured."

She said the authorities were still trying to establish how many people had been on board when the plane crashed in a non-residential area around a mile north of Seville airport.

The airport was closed to traffic for about an hour.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said there had been "eight to 10 people on board."

Speaking on Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands, where he was attending a campaign meeting, Rajoy sent his condolences to the victims, Spanish news agencies reported.

Aviation sources confirmed the plane was one of Airbus' new A400M troop transporters, which are assembled at a factory in Seville.

Airbus Defence and Space, the Airbus division responsible for military aircraft, said the plane was destined for Turkey.

The group sent a team of experts to the crash scene.

If confirmed as an accident, it would be the first since the aircraft, which was fraught by development and delivery delays, went into service.

The aircraft has been promoted by Airbus as a possible replacement for New Zealand's aging Hercules aircraft, with the planemaker taking out a series of adverts in the Herald for the A400M plane.

-AAP