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#340423 06/06/09 11:02 AM
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Information trickling out following the loss of a 330 last week is beginning to sound quite worrying. Apparently the A330 "has always had problems with inconsistent airspeed readings". I'm feeling more warmly inclined towards Boeing by the day!

Peter Jones #340427 06/06/09 11:07 AM
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I have never been a big Airbus fan.

LaurieMar #340456 06/06/09 03:10 PM
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Seems that there was a manufacturer's recommendation that the pitot tubes be replaced. Air France opted not to implement this recommendation.

Reminds me of the Concorde that crashed, also operated by Air France. Several strongly recommended recommendations (the manufacturer cannot "mandate" an operator - only the civil aviation authorities can do that) had not been implemented on that aircraft. Most notably the kevlar fuel tank linings that would undoubtedly have prevented the fire and probably also the fuel leak that brought the aircraft down.

All the Concorde recommendations had been implemented by the other operator of the aircraft, British Airways. Yet they were forced by political pressure to ground their aircraft when Air France grounded theirs.

I wonder whether this is standard Air France practice - to cut costs by not implementing safety and other manufacturer recommendations? If so that's probably true for their Boeing aircraft as well.

Peter Jones #340478 06/06/09 08:38 PM
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This isn't yer grandpa's Air France/KLM frown

Texican #340780 06/09/09 08:23 PM
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See http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article6461994.ece?Submitted=true. Suggests that Air France are a dreadful politically-motivated airline, not even trusted by its own pilots.

Peter Jones #340790 06/09/09 09:09 PM
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Peter Jones:
I think there are a lot of dreadful, politically-motivated Frenchies, and I don't trust 'em. I don't see however that a minority flyer's syndicate's recent knee-jerk call to refuse A330 and A340 flights suggests that AF is politically motivated.
The article you site says (only) 10% of the airline's crews belong to ALTER. (Also, the piece doesn't distinguish between technical crew and service crew)
The whole affair is plenty distressing. Almost as distressing is the current rate of trade for shares of the "World's Favourite Airline".
What is it you deem an indication of AF's "political motivation"?

Last edited by Texican; 06/09/09 09:27 PM. Reason: redundancy
Texican #340796 06/09/09 09:45 PM
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By "politically motivated" I mean in the business sense, not political. I draw a strong parallel with the Concorde fiasco, where they managed to force BA to withdraw their planes to cover up the fact that theirs had crashed because of their negligence. Seems they've known about the pitot tube problem for quite a while and haven't done a lot about it.

Peter Jones #340869 06/10/09 01:37 PM
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Pitot tube issue was not an emergency A/D. Probably an item to be replaced on a time limited or next check basis.
I'd imagine that it's mandatory immediate replacement now on this A330 varient.

cracked up #340874 06/10/09 01:45 PM
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Perhaps it should have been (an emergency A/D). Seems to me that having conflicting speed information fed to the autopilot and cabin, apparently on a regular basis, is actually pretty serious. It may turn out to have been pivotal in losing this aircraft.

And apparently the A340, the giant "super jumbo", suffers from the same problem.

Peter Jones #340928 06/10/09 07:24 PM
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Can you change your ticket if you find out your flight is scheduled on a plane that is not up to your standards?



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