War of words over Air France safety

AIR FRANCE pilots and managers have stepped up a war of words over security on the airline following the crash of flight AF447 which killed 228 people flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris.

The head of pilots' union SNPL Eric de Rivery said yesterday that Air France-KLM was facing "a crisis of management over the subject of flight security."

While unions have discussed strikes, no definitive action has been set.

Mr Rivery's comments followed a letter sent out to Air France pilots over the weekend by the company, ordering them to respect standard safety procedures and accusing them of "over confidence.”

The letter, leaked to newspaper La Tribune , mentioned three cases occurring within two weeks where pilots had broken with procedures. In one incident a plane took off despite warning alarms that should have stopped the pilot.

"The simple application of procedure would avoid these incidents," the letter said.

Air France pilots' unions have criticised the company in the wake of the Rio crash, initially threatening strikes if speed sensors – still thought to be the main reason behind the crash - on a range of jets were not replaced. The company, while not accepting the fault, stepped up a planned program to replace them.

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The cause of the crash of the Airbus 330 is still unknown. France's accident investigation authority (BEA) announced yesterday that it is to produce an interim report in December.

However the head of the BEA, Jean-Paul Troadec, said that there were few factors to allow them to say what happened. The plane's flight recorders have not been found.

A new search of the crash site will start in 2010. Britain, the US, Germany and Russia are all contributing to the 10-20 million euro cost of the investigation.

Photo: Flying Blue