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Air France 447 Carriers Hurry to Replace Speed Sensors

Summary: Air France 447 Carriers Hurry to Replace Speed SensorsAirlines Rush to Replace Sensors 41 Bodies Pulled From Crash SiteBy LISA STARK and KATE BARRETTJune 9 2009 A total of 41 bodies have now been found in the Atlantic Ocean from Air France flight 447 the airline announced this evening In a photo released by Brazil s Air Force the tail of Air France flight 447 is lifted from the In a photo released by Brazil s Air Force the tail of Air France flight 447 is lifted from the Atlantic Ocean Tuesday June 9 2009 Four more bodies were found Tuesday bringing the total number of bodies recovered to 28 Searchers have begun bringing remains and debris from the plane crash to shore More PhotosAnd as divers continue to recover remains and wreckage from the crash site airlines worldwide are scrambling to replace plane speed sensors today on a number of Airbus jets in the aftermath of the accident Investigators looking into what may have caused the accident believe speed sensors malfunctioned on the flight The problem could have caused the plane to fly at an unsafe speed Watch World News with Charles Gibson Tonight at 6 30 p m ET for the full report Now Delta US Airways and United which flies a different model of Airbus are rushing to finish replacing their sensors Faulty speed readings can cause the jet to fly dangerously slow or fast It s not known for sure if the sensors contributed to the crash nine days ago but pilots at Air France aren t taking chances They ve pressured the airline to quickly upgrade the speed sensors called pitot tubes We are really concerned said Louis Jobard at Air France s pilots union We have had some incidents you know before reported on the Airbus 330 and Airbus 340 with the old type of pitot sensor The speed sensor changeover was recommended by Airbus 17 months ago but it s common for airlines to take their time on non critical work Airbus had recommended changing the sensors because of reliability issues and Air France had noticed sensors icing up on some flights The sensors had not yet been changed on flight 447 which former National Transportation Safety Board managing director Peter Goelz said was not unusual The recommendation that was made to Air France was not an emergency recommendation Goelz said today It was a recommendation that could be completed over time And given the economics of the airline industry now no air carrier wants to take their plane out of service unnecessarily The push to replace potentially faulty sensors was one　 of several distinct efforts under way today to make sure travelers are safe in the air In separate initiatives the Federal Aviation Administration called on investigators to immediately focus on pilot training required by smaller regional airlines on the heels of a deadly crash this winter in Buffalo Also today the NTSB began a three day hearing into the rare success story of what happened when US Airways flight 1549 landed on the Hudson River In the Air France crash pilots weren t just struggling with equipment problems It was likely a series of failures and mishaps that led to the tragedy Among them weather consultant Tim Vasquez has determined the plane s flight path would have taken the jet right through a series of towering thunderstorms Air France 447 41 Bodies Recovered From AtlanticThe reality of the Air France crash was painfully evident today as the bodies recovered from the ocean were transported to shore The bodies recovered will soon be identified and examined for any injuries that may help explain what happened Despite the progress in the search Goelz said at this point it is a daunting task This issue with the wreckage is it s been at sea for at least six or seven days he said They ve got to chart currents wind On Monday an ocean of debris surrounded divers recovering wreckage and bodies from Air France flight 447 in the Atlantic Ocean and searchers today recovered the stabilizer from the plane s tail according to the Brazilian Navy It s still unclear if the jet broke up in the air or on impact But former crash investigator Gregory Feith said they may be able to tell from the tail If it s on the backside or the furthest up the debris chain then there s a high probability that could have been one　 of the first components that came off the airplane said Feith The evidence is being flown to the Brazilian island of Fernando de Noronha some 400 miles off the country s coast The flight crashed with 228 people onb　oard en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris after departing on May 31 As the hunt for clues picks up pace searchers are scouring an area 45 miles from where plane last sent a burst of automated messages documenting failures in the flight s systems In the grim recovery effort human remains will provide clues about what may have gone wrong Frank Ciaccio who supervised wreckage recovery for Egypt Air and other underwater accidents while working for the National Transportation Safety Board said full forensic examinations are not going to solve all the answers but can still provide crucial information Identifying them is going to be the No 1 priority said Ciaccio forensics specialist and vice president of commercial services for Kenyon International Disaster Management Services No 2 priority is going to be to document any injuries the body sustains so that they can add to the investigation and help with putting a final picture together It s not going to solve why this plane went down but it ll give something back to the family members that do find their loved one　s right now and it ll give some hope to the other one　s that hopefully they will be able to recover more of their loved one　s he added Air France 447 Black Box Signals Will Last Another Three WeeksA French nuclear submarine is expected to arrive Wednesday to look for the plane s black boxes On Monday the U S Navy sent a team and two underwater high tech listening devices used in military crashes The devices are towed behind a boat to listen for the pinging signal emitted from the plane s cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorders They can detect the black boxes at depths of 20 000 feet and have been used in military accidents Those recorders could also tell investigators whether the pilots tried to turn back toward land Investigators believe may have been the case based on the location of the wreckage and bodies The black boxes are really going to give a lot of information a good 90 percent of the information Ciaccio said These are all pieces of the puzzle It would be like an incomplete puzzle with the black boxes not being recovered The boxes locator signals may last just 21 more days ABC News Zoe Magee Ammu Kannampilly Renata Araujo Sonia Gallego Joe Goldman Christel Kucharz Luis Martinez Phoebe Natanson Fabiola Antezana Gabriel O Rorke Samira Parkinson Smith Kirit Radia and Christophe Schpoliansky Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report Air France 447 Carriers Hurry to Replace Speed SensorsAirlines Rush to Replace Sensors 41 Bodies Pulled From Crash SiteBy LISA STARK and KATE BARRETTJune 9 2009 A total of 41 bodies have now been found in the Atlantic Ocean from Air France flight 447 the airline announced this evening In a photo released by Brazil s Air Force the tail of Air France flight 447 is lifted from the In a photo released by Brazil s Air Force the tail of Air France flight 447 is lifted from the Atlantic Ocean Tuesday June 9 2009 Four more bodies were found Tuesday bringing the total number of bodies recovered to 28 Searchers have begun bringing remains and debris from the plane crash to shore More PhotosAnd as divers continue to recover remains and wreckage from the crash site airlines worldwide are scrambling to replace plane speed sensors today on a number of Airbus jets in the aftermath of the accident Investigators looking into what may have caused the accident believe speed sensors malfunctioned on the flight The problem could have caused the plane to fly at an unsafe speed Watch World News with Charles Gibson Tonight at 6 30 p m ET for the full report Now Delta US Airways and United which flies a different model of Airbus are rushing to finish replacing their sensors Faulty speed readings can cause the jet to fly dangerously slow or fast It s not known for sure if the sensors contributed to the crash nine days ago but pilots at Air France aren t taking chances They ve pressured the airline to quickly upgrade the speed sensors called pitot tubes We are really concerned said Louis Jobard at Air France s pilots union We have had some incidents you know before reported on the Airbus 330 and Airbus 340 with the old type of pitot sensor The speed sensor changeover was recommended by Airbus 17 months ago but it s common for airlines to take their time on non critical work Airbus had recommended changing the sensors because of reliability issues and Air France had noticed sensors icing up on some flights The sensors had not yet been changed on flight 447 which former National Transportation Safety Board managing director Peter Goelz said was not unusual The recommendation that was made to Air France was not an emergency recommendation Goelz said today It was a recommendation that could be completed over time And given the economics of the airline industry now no air carrier wants to take their plane out of service unnecessarily The push to replace potentially faulty sensors was one　 of several distinct efforts under way today to make sure travelers are safe in the air In separate initiatives the Federal Aviation Administration called on investigators to immediately focus on pilot training required by smaller regional airlines on the heels of a deadly crash this winter in Buffalo Also today the NTSB began a three day hearing into the rare success story of what happened when US Airways flight 1549 landed on the Hudson River In the Air France crash pilots weren t just struggling with equipment problems It was likely a series of failures and mishaps that led to the tragedy Among them weather consultant Tim Vasquez has determined the plane s flight path would have taken the jet right through a series of towering thunderstorms Air France 447 41 Bodies Recovered From AtlanticThe reality of the Air France crash was painfully evident today as the bodies recovered from the ocean were transported to shore The bodies recovered will soon be identified and examined for any injuries that may help explain what happened Despite the progress in the search Goelz said at this point it is a daunting task This issue with the wreckage is it s been at sea for at least six or seven days he said They ve got to chart currents wind On Monday an ocean of debris surrounded divers recovering wreckage and bodies from Air France flight 447 in the Atlantic Ocean and searchers today recovered the stabilizer from the plane s tail according to the Brazilian Navy It s still unclear if the jet broke up in the air or on impact But former crash investigator Gregory Feith said they may be able to tell from the tail If it s on the backside or the furthest up the debris chain then there s a high probability that could have been one　 of the first components that came off the airplane said Feith The evidence is being flown to the Brazilian island of Fernando de Noronha some 400 miles off the country s coast The flight crashed with 228 people onb　oard en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris after departing on May 31 As the hunt for clues picks up pace searchers are scouring an area 45 miles from where plane last sent a burst of automated messages documenting failures in the flight s systems In the grim recovery effort human remains will provide clues about what may have gone wrong Frank Ciaccio who supervised wreckage recovery for Egypt Air and other underwater accidents while working for the National Transportation Safety Board said full forensic examinations are not going to solve all the answers but can still provide crucial information Identifying them is going to be the No 1 priority said Ciaccio forensics specialist and vice president of commercial services for Kenyon International Disaster Management Services No 2 priority is going to be to document any injuries the body sustains so that they can add to the investigation and help with putting a final picture together It s not going to solve why this plane went down but it ll give something back to the family members that do find their loved one　s right now and it ll give some hope to the other one　s that hopefully they will be able to recover more of their loved one　s he added Air France 447 Black Box Signals Will Last Another Three WeeksA French nuclear submarine is expected to arrive Wednesday to look for the plane s black boxes On Monday the U S Navy sent a team and two underwater high tech listening devices used in military crashes The devices are towed behind a boat to listen for the pinging signal emitted from the plane s cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorders They can detect the black boxes at depths of 20 000 feet and have been used in military accidents Those recorders could also tell investigators whether the pilots tried to turn back toward land Investigators believe may have been the case based on the location of the wreckage and bodies The black boxes are really going to give a lot of information a good 90 percent of the information Ciaccio said These are all pieces of the puzzle It would be like an incomplete puzzle with the black boxes not being recovered The boxes locator signals may last just 21 more days ABC News Zoe Magee Ammu Kannampilly Renata Araujo Sonia Gallego Joe Goldman Christel Kucharz Luis Martinez Phoebe Natanson Fabiola Antezana Gabriel O Rorke Samira Parkinson Smith Kirit Radia and Christophe Schpoliansky Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report

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