Air France Disaster: Stunning Discovery

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Although it was not not established at this point that Air France crash is primarily caused by faulty speed sensor, this has been included as a possibility. A research into the past history related to the faulty sensors revealed shocking truth… are the airline companies trading chances for more profit? More than 10 years after the first incident found to be caused by faulty Pitot Tubes, either there is no solution or airlines prefer to take the risk.

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Damaged Pitot Tubes

Pitot tubes are named after the French engineer who
discovered in the early 1700s that the pressure of a gas or
liquid through a tube could be used to determine velocity.

Blocked or damaged Pitot tubes have been blamed for air
disasters including the 1996 crash of a Boeing Co. 757 flown by
Alas Nacionales, which plunged into the Atlantic after takeoff
from the Dominican Republic, killing all 189 people on board.
Readings overstating the plane’s speed caused the pilots to fly
too slowly and stall, investigators found.

In 1999, a blocked sensor contributed to the crash of a
Boeing MD-11 flown by FedEx Corp. that overshot the runway as it
attempted to land in the Philippines.

About 600 A330s are in service with more than 60 carriers,
including Air Canada, BMI, Delta Air Lines Inc., Lufthansa,
Malaysian Airlines, SAS Group Inc. and US Airways Group Inc.,
according to the Airbus Web site.

Malaysian Airlines finished upgrading the sensors on its
A330-200 planes last September, Mohd Roslan Ismail, the
carrier’s chief maintenance manager, said in an e-mail.

Delta, SAS, BMI and US Airways declined to comment or said
information wasn’t immediately available on whether their planes
had the upgraded sensors. Lufthansa and Air Canada didn’t return
calls and messages seeking comment.