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Air France CEO 'not convinced' sensors cause crash

By AP

PARIS – Air France's chief executive says he is "not convinced" that faulty speed monitors caused the crash of Flight 447.

Pierre-Henri Gourgeon told journalists on Thursday that replacement external speed monitors - or Pitot tubes - for jet models of the same type as the crashed plane arrived three days before the fatal accident.

Airbus ordered the replacements on April 27 after pilots noted a loss of airspeed data in flight on Airbus A330 and A340 models.

Gourgeon described the incidents as "not catastrophic" and said he did not issue a press release immediately after the accident "because I am not convinced that the sensors are the cause of the accident."

Flight 447 went down in the Atlantic on May 31 with 228 people aboard.

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