French Union Urges Refusal of A330s With Old Sensors

An Air France union urged pilots to refuse to fly Airbus aircraft fitted with an airspeed sensor implicated in the June 1 crash, which prompted US Airways Group Inc. and Aer Lingus Group Plc to upgrade their planes.
Alter, the Paris-based carrier’s third-largest pilots’ union, said it “deplores” Air France’s decision to continue operating twin-aisle Airbus A330 and A340 models while replacing the older sensors, made by Thales SA, over coming weeks. The labor group said members should agree to fly A330s only when at least two of the three probes have been upgraded.
“We’re not satisfied,” said Christophe Pesenti, an official with the union, which won about 6 percent of votes in the last ballot among pilots. “Our sole objective here is absolute safety.”
Ice damage or obstruction of the sensors may have been responsible for unreliable airspeed readings that appear to have contributed to the June 1 accident, Paul-Louis Arslanian, the chief French investigator, said five days after Air France Flight 447 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean.
Air France said on June 6 that it had begun replacing the component with a more ice-resistant version in late April, 18 months after Airbus advised customers to make the switch.
The first automated system-failure message in a string of 24 radio alerts from the crashed jet explicitly indicated that the sensors were faulty, Alter said.
The union’s demands will have “no effect” on Air France services, said Brigitte Barrand, a spokeswoman at the airline.
In total, more than 600 A330s are in service globally with about 70 carriers, according to Airbus’s Web site.
Kingfisher Airlines acquired all five of its A330s after the older sensor was discontinued, with the newer version already installed, according to Prakash Mirpuri, a spokesman at the Bangalore, India-based carrier.
Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Qantas Airways Ltd. said that their A330s are equipped with airspeed sensors from Goodrich Corp., the alternative supplier approved by Airbus, and that they’re unaware of any safety issues or manufacturer recommendations concerning the part.
Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., Dubai-based Emirates, Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways, Finnair Oyj, Stockholm-based SAS Group and Singapore Airlines Ltd. also said their A330s are fitted with the Goodrich model.
Air Canada, Rome-based Air One, Brussels Airlines, Jet Airways (India) Ltd., Garuda Indonesia, Korean Air Lines Co., Sri Lankan Airlines, Thai Airways International Pcl and Vietnam Airlines didn’t return e-mail and telephone requests for information on their A330 fleets. BMI, Philippine Airlines Inc. and Qatar Airways said information wasn’t immediately available.
08/06/09 Laurence Frost and Andrea Rothman/Bloomberg

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Categories: Foreign Jun 2009, Safety Jun 2009