[belorn]

How does liability work, and do Airbus have access to the source code? I assume that if a "bug" was found in the architectural blueprint for a plane it would be the manufacturer who in the end is responsible for not finding it, but they would naturally have full access to the blueprint when making the plane. Is the same true when developing the custom software for the plane?

[luch]

Well it's military airplane so it's a bit special here, usually it's the costumer (i.e. the army) which is liable if the plane has passed the final tests.

However it's a complete different matter for civil airplanes : it's the lead dev/project manager which is liable for life for what he has shipped. For example, a retired engineer from Airbus was heard in trial for the Concorde accident in France in 2000.