Safety board probes A-330 malfunctions

Safety board probes A-330 malfunctions
Agence France-Presse
June 26, 2009 10:40am

US transport safety experts said they are looking into reports of key instrument malfunctions in the cockpits of the same type of aircraft as the Air France flight that crashed this month off the coast of Brazil.

Both incidents involved the airspeed indicator and altimetre on Airbus A-330s, the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said.

”The first incident occurred May 21, 2009 when TAM Airlines flight 8091 flying from Miami, Florida to Sao Paulo, Brazil, experienced a loss of primary speed and altitude information while in cruise flight,” it said.

”Initial reports indicate that the flight crew noted an abrupt drop in indicated outside air temperature, followed by the loss of the Air Data Reference System and disconnections of the autopilot and autothrust, along with the loss of speed and altitude information.”

The flight crew switched to backup instruments and was able to safely land in Sao Paulo.

The NTSB is still gathering flight recorder data, information about weather conditions and statements from the crew of the other report of “a possibly similar incident” involving a Northwest Airlines A-330 flying between Hong Kong and Tokyo on Tuesday.
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That flight was able to land safely in Tokyo.

No one was injured in either incident, and the aircraft sustained no damage, the NTSB said.

Investigators are still trying to work out what caused the Air France flight to plunge into the Atlantic Ocean around 1,000 kilometres off Brazil's northeast coast on June 1, as it was flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris with 228 people on board.

France's Investigation and Analysis Bureau (BEA), which is leading the technical inquiry into the crash, said Thursday it will release an initial report on July 2 into what caused the disaster, the worst in Air France's history.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25693099-23109,00.html