Airbus A330 is very safe, pilot says

Dubai: "It is safe," an Airbus 330 pilot and trainer based in the UAE told Gulf News.

The June 1 Air France Flight 447 crash that killed 228 has led to heated international debate on aircraft safety.

"I have been flying the aircraft ever since it came into service in 1999 ... like all modern Airbus aircraft, the A330 is very safe, no questions about it."

Preferring to stay anonymous, the 50-year-old Australian also trains pilots on the A330 and has clocked 18,000 hours of flying time. He said the airworthiness of Airbus carriers in the UAE is very good because of high safety and maintenance standards.

International news reports state that unreliable data from speed sensors may have triggered a chain of events leading to the Air France crash.

"About two years ago, Airbus had issued a modification recommendation. The pitot tubes on the aircraft supply information to the air data, to the computers, which give inputs about airspeed. If the tubes are blocked because of ice [due to lower temperatures at the higher altitudes], you would get inaccurate airspeed indication."

The modification was to increase the heat of the tubes so that they are not blocked by ice. What does that mean in terms of aircraft control and the probability of trouble?

"Blocked tubes and inaccurate readings would make it difficult to control the aircraft and in turbulence, this would be exacerbated."

The pilot said that Airbus had issued an operator's telex four days' ago reminding pilots of the "unreliable airspeed procedure".

"They did not want to prejudice the investigation but this telex was a direct result of the crash." When informed that Air France labour union had called upon pilots to refuse to fly Airbus SAS A330s and A340s until the airline replaces speed sensors, he emphasised that A330 is an extremely reliable aircraft and he is "very happy" with it.

He was reluctant to talk about what could have gone wrong with the Air France flight.

"I have my view on it but it would not be appropriate to speculate on what went wrong."