No link between Qantas A330 problems and Air France crash | The Australian
A second interim report into a Qantas A330-300 that nosedived twice 154km west of the West Australian town of Learmonth last October said investigators had yet to find a reason for erroneous data provided by a component known as an air data inertial reference unit (ADIRU).
The report said there several important differences between the Qantas and Air France accident, including the fact that the ADIRUs were made by different manufacturers, cockpit messages followed a different sequence and pattern and the airspeed sensors (pitot probes) on the two aircraft were different models made by different manufacturers.
A European airworthiness directive that pitot probes made by Thales Avionics be replaced with units manufactured by Goodrich also did not apply to Qantas aircraft.
An Australian Transport Safety Bureau report released today emphasised the importance of seatbelts and said new procedures and software modifications on A330s were aimed at preventing further nosedives.
The investigation team is continuing to evaluate a problem with ADIRU’s called "dozing", where the units stop outputting data during a flight, and are looking at the possibility that cosmic rays or solar radiation may have affected the unit.
A test plane equipped with sensors was also flown near the Harold E. Holt Naval Communications station near Learmonth while it was transmitting but an analysis did not reveal any anomalous results.