Union urges pilots to stop flying some Airbus aircraft

www.airfrance.com

The Alter union, which represents approximately 12 per cent of the pilots working for Air France has urged all pilots to stop flying Airbus A330/A340 planes until speed sensors have been replaced. The sensors have become a major focus in the investigation of last week’s Air France crash off the coast of Brazil.

At the weekend, Air France said it was speeding up the process of replacing the sensors, which are known as pitot tubes, on all of its long-haul Airbus aircraft, but did not provide a completion date.

The union has told its members that they should not fly these planes until the speed sensors are replaced. There are three pitot tubes on the A330.

A statement on the union’s website reads in part: “Refuse any flight on a A330/A340 which have not modified at least two pitot sensors.”

Just over one week ago, an Air France A330 flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the north-eastern coast of Brazil, killing all 228 people on board.

It was not clear if the pilots would heed the union’s advice, or whether it would have any effect on the carrier’s operations.

Accident investigators have said that there were “inconsistencies” in speed readings taken prior to the crash, which raises speculation that the pitot tubes may have been covered with ice, causing them to feed incorrect data to the cockpit, and confusing the pilots as they encountered a severe storm.

Thanks to www.reuters.com for the above quotes, for more information on this article please visit their website.

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