ChristiaanJ
So far, in all the discussions, I've not yet seen a mention of even a 'proposal for rule making' to replace the obsolete certification rules for pitot tubes.
Extract (pages 20-21)
Furthermore, service experience indicates that flight crews have experienced temporary loss of or erroneous
airspeed indications, malfunctioning and/or damage to temperature probes in severe icing conditions (in
areas of deep convection). The main suspected cause is ice crystals in high concentration.
The on-going investigation of an Airbus A330 accident
7
(flight AF447, 01 June 2009, Atlantic Ocean) has
established in the interim report No 2 that several (twenty-four) maintenance messages were transmitted
by the ACARS system and that these messages show an
7
Refer to the Interim Report No 2 dated 17 December 2009 available on the BEA France Website.
Please use the following link:
FLIGHT AF 447.
inconsistency in the measured airspeeds. A meteorological analysis shows strong condensation towards
AF447’s flight level probably associated with convection phenomena. The aircraft Pitot probes potentially may
have encountered severe icing conditions including ice crystals and mixed phase. However, as of today the
root cause of the accident has not been established, therefore it is not possible to determine whether or not
the mentioned airspeed measurements inconsistencies have played a role among the causal factors.