Quote: Quote:
The manufacturer
Thales was well aware of the catastrophic consequences of a failure of the speed sensors as early as 2005. At the time, the French company concluded that
such a failure could "cause plane crashes."
A total of 32 cases are known in which A330 crews got into difficulties because the speed sensors failed. In all the cases, the planes had pitot sensors from Thales, which were significantly more prone to failure than a rival model from an American manufacturer.
But
none of the responsible parties intervened. In 2007, Airbus merely "recommended" that the sensors be replaced.
Air France took that as a reason not to carry out the costly work -- and
it even got official blessing for doing so.
The European Aviation Safety Agency wrote that it currently saw "no unsafe condition that warrants a mandatory modification of the Thales pitot tubes."
Money is in play here, I'm sure. Typically, if the component maker or airframe builder make a Service Bulletin mandatory, they pay for it. If the SB is optional, the airline pays. I've known airlines who refuse to pay for SB that are to correct defects, regardless.
More rubbish from Der Spiegel. Air France was in the process of changing out the pitot tubes. They received their first shipment of replacement parts a week before the accident, but had not applied them to that particular aircraft.
As to why they did nothing for two years, consider that they were told that there was no safety problem by both the manufacturer and the regulator, and they must have agreed, so why do anything? It's not as though pitot tubes are that expensive when compared to other costs. It was only after a few other incidents that they took action on their own to start the replacements.