An Air France memo to its pilots Friday about the crash of Flight 447 said the airline is replacing instruments that help measure airspeed on all its medium- and long-haul Airbus jets. Investigators have focused on incorrect speed readings as one potential factor in the crash. <...> One theory: the outside probes that feed speed sensors may have iced over, giving incorrect information to the plane's computers. The autopilot may have then directed the plane to fly too fast or too slow when it met turbulence from towering thunderstorms. ...
An Air France memo to its pilots Friday about the crash of Flight 447 said the airline is replacing instruments that help measure airspeed on all its medium- and long-haul Airbus jets.
Investigators have focused on incorrect speed readings as one potential factor in the crash. <...>
One theory: the outside probes that feed speed sensors may have iced over, giving incorrect information to the plane's computers. The autopilot may have then directed the plane to fly too fast or too slow when it met turbulence from towering thunderstorms. ...
The Airbus telex has revived a long-standing debate among pilots over whether the Airbus planes are overly complex. More than 300 aircraft similar to the missing Air France jet are in service worldwide. Investigators do not know if Flight AF447 was travelling at an incorrect speed as it crossed a storm cluster. An aviation expert, who declined to be named, said the plane's airspeed sensors, called pitot tubes, work on air pressure and might provide incorrect readings if they get obstructed by objects such as ice.
More than 300 aircraft similar to the missing Air France jet are in service worldwide.
Investigators do not know if Flight AF447 was travelling at an incorrect speed as it crossed a storm cluster.
An aviation expert, who declined to be named, said the plane's airspeed sensors, called pitot tubes, work on air pressure and might provide incorrect readings if they get obstructed by objects such as ice.
