The latest recommendation by Airbus is a positive step in airliner safety, but Airbus should go further and replace its ‘faulty’ on-board computers, too!
The following news item was published by BBC UK, which in view of its public safety features is reproduced in full.
For background information see: Airlines & Aviation Industry, Airline Safety, Air Travel …
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Airbus urges speed sensor switch
The move will affect about 200 long haul Airbus jets
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Page last updated at 22:25 GMT, Thursday, 30 July 2009 23:25 UK
Plane manufacturer Airbus has urged airlines to change the make of the majority of speed sensors on about 200 long haul aircraft.
Airbus has issued a bulletin to airlines recommending that they switch the parts, also known as pitots, to those made by US manufacturer Goodrich.
The moves comes as investigations continue into the cause of the fatal crash of an Air France Airbus in June.
Investigators have said speed sensors, or pitots, may have been a factor.
“Airbus has decided to recommend that A330/A340 operators with Thales pitot tubes, exchange at least two of them with Goodrich probes,” the company said in a statement sent to the BBC.
The company said it was making the recommendation “on the basis of the very limited available information” from the Air France accident, and “despite the fact that the pitot tubes meet the certification objectives”.
“This precautionary measure will allow our customers to benefit from the greater in-service experience of the Goodrich tubes on the A330/A340,” it said.
The move would affect about 200 of the A330 or A340 planes which were fitted with sensors manufactured by France’s Thales company, reported Reuters.
No deadline has been issued for the change to be implemented.
Earlier, the European Aviation Safety Authority (EASA) said it was to make the same recommendation.
All 228 people on board the Air France plane were killed when it plunged into the ocean en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris on 1 June.
French investigators have said faulty speed sensors were “a factor but not the cause” of the crash.
In the wake of the crash, Air France accelerated an existing programme to replace speed monitors on its Airbus planes. BBC © MMIX
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