Speed sensors were being replaced after dispute with Airbus
Searchers found 15 more bodies from a crashed Air France jet on Sunday and investigators are considering the possibility the speed sensors may have iced up, Reuters reports
Air France said late on Saturday it was accelerating the replacement of speed sensors on all its Airbus long-haul planes.
The plane's pilots may have set the aircraft at a dangerous speed because they were relying on faulty speed readings, Reuters said.
Air France said it had begun the switchover of speed sensors five weeks before the crash but only after disagreeing with Airbus over the planemaker's proposal to carry out tests before replacing them.
Airbus said it could only discuss the investigation with French air authorities.
The head of France's air accident agency BEA said it was too soon to say if problems with the speed sensors were responsible. The agency said the A330 had sent out 24 error messages in four minutes including one indicating a discrepancy in speed data. It said similar problems had happened before.
France also has a nuclear-powered submarine that should arrive on Wednesday to search for the black box flight data recorders.
