BERLIN - The European Aviation Safety Agency has issued a safety warning for air speed sensors that are made by Goodrich Corp. and fitted on many Airbus jets - just two weeks after advising airlines to use them instead of instruments made by
Experts believe sensors made by Thales may have contributed to the June crash of an Air France Airbus jetliner from Brazil to Paris that killed 228 people.
The latest EASA emergency directive, effective yesterday, said malfunctions have been reported in pitot tubes that Charlotte, N.C.-based Goodrich made for A330 and A340 Airbus jets. It urged airlines to test the devices.
The Cologne-based agency said its directive addresses a potential in-flight air leak that could cause incorrect pressure and airspeed readings.
A pitot is an L-shaped metal tube that juts from a plane’s forward fuselage and measures air speed. Modern jet airliners carry at least three, and the devices are susceptible to blockage from water and icing.
On Sept. 7, EASA enacted a separate directive calling for every Airbus jet to be outfitted with at least two Goodrich pitots, and no more than one made by France’s Thales. The model of Thales sensors fitted onto Air France Flight 447, which crashed en route from Brazil to Paris in June, was banned across Europe.
