Operation
Pitot tubes on aircraft commonly have heating elements called pitot heat to prevent the tube from becoming clogged with ice. The failure of these systems can have catastrophic consequences, as in the case of Austral Líneas Aéreas Flight 2553, Birgenair Flight 301 (investigators suspected that some kind of insect could have created a nest inside the pitot tube: the prime suspect is a species called the black and yellow mud dauber wasp), Northwest Airlines Flight 6231, Aeroperú Flight 603 (blocked static port), and of one X-31. The French air safety authority BEA said that pitot tube icing was a contributing factor in the crash of Air France Flight 447.
Read more about this topic: Pitot Tube
Famous quotes containing the word operation:
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—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)
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—Marshall McLuhan (1911–1980)
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