Originally Posted by
SLFstu
Some posters in this thread have wondered if reliability stats exist for AoA sensors.
Apparently the FAA mandates that for US operators all aircraft faults that require maintenance actions are to be reported within 28 days of occurrence. (Yes, for all items big or small, even for the simplest things such as loose exit signs or a flat battery pack in a FA emergency flashlight!)
CNN (yep, them) went hunting through the public database looking for evidence.
Similar links have been posted on the forum. The Washington Post previously did a count over a different timeframe, and gets to the point. My emphasis added:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/sensor-cited-as-potential-factor-in-boeing-crashes-draws-scrutiny/2019/03/17/5ecf0b0e-4682-11e9-aaf8-4512a6fe3439_story.html
Angle-of-attack sensors have been flagged as problems more than 50 times on U.S. commercial airplanes over the past five years, although no accidents have occurred over millions of miles flown, according to reports made to the Federal Aviation Administration’s Service Difficulty Reporting database. That makes it a relatively unusual problem, aviation experts said — but also one with magnified importance because of its prominent role in flight software.