Wednesday June 10, 2009
Air France's largest pilots union said yesterday that management had informed it that at least two of three pitot tubes on each of the carrier's A330s/A340s will be replaced "within days," while EASA issued a statement declaring that all A330s "are airworthy and safe to operate." AF has said that it began replacing pitot tubes on A330s/A340s in late April, but its pilots expressed concern that the replacements weren't being done quickly enough given the focus on the possible role of pitot tubes in last week's A330-200 crash.
The French BEA has stated that data transmitted by Flight 447 before it was lost indicated "inconsistent" speed readings. The SNPL-ALPA union, representing more than 80% of AF pilots, said yesterday at least two of three pitot tubes would be replaced on all A330s "within days" even it if causes flight delays. "Air France has provided us with an extremely proactive and very accelerated replacement program," it said. The airline did not comment. The Alter union representing about 12% of AF pilots on Monday encouraged members not to fly A330s/A340s until the pitot tube were replaced.
EASA yesterday issued a safety bulletin as a "precautionary measure" to remind operators "of existing procedures to be applied in the event of loss of, or unreliable, speed indication." It added, "With regard to reports [on AF447] about a possible malfunctioning of the airspeed indication system (pitot tubes), the agency is analyzing data with a view to issuing mandatory corrective action, without prejudging the outcome of the accident investigation."
