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Safety agency cites problem with Goodrich jet sensors

BERLIN - The European Aviation Safety Agency has issued a safety warning for airspeed sensors made by Goodrich Corp. and fitted on many Airbus jets - two weeks after advising airlines to use them instead of instruments made by Thales SA.

BERLIN - The European Aviation Safety Agency has issued a safety warning for airspeed sensors made by Goodrich Corp. and fitted on many Airbus jets - two weeks after advising airlines to use them instead of instruments made by Thales SA.

Experts believe sensors made by Thales may have contributed to the June crash of an Air France Airbus jet from Brazil to Paris that killed 228.

The latest EASA emergency directive said loose fittings had been reported in pitot tubes that Goodrich, based in Charlotte, N.C., made for A330 and A340 Airbus jets. It urged airlines to test the devices.

The agency said its directive addressed a potential in-flight air leak that could cause incorrect pressure and airspeed readings.

Lisa Bottle, a spokeswoman for Goodrich, said an Airbus operator reported the loose fittings in a recent shipment of the tubes.

A pitot is an L-shaped metal tube that juts from a plane's forward fuselage and measures airspeed. The devices are susceptible to blockage from water and icing.

On Sept. 7, EASA enacted a separate directive calling for every Airbus jet to be outfitted with at least two Goodrich pitots, and no more than one made by France's Thales.

The model of Thales sensors on Air France Flight 447, the jet that crashed into the Atlantic, was banned across Europe.

Investigators have questioned whether that jet's pitot tubes iced over and gave false speed readings.