FAA orders Airbus part be replaced

WASHINGTON, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- The Federal Aviation Administration Thursday ordered U.S. airlines to replace the part that came under suspicion following the Air France Flight 447 crash.

Airlines have 120 days to replace the device that could be giving false airspeed indications in two Airbus aircraft, CNN reported. Northwest and US Airways are the only U.S. carriers that fly the affected planes.

All 228 people aboard the Air France Flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris were killed June 1 when the plane went down in the Atlantic.

FAA officials said they could expedite the process because of the limited number of planes involved -- 43 in the United States -- and because swapping out the parts as quickly as possible was prudent.

The devices to be replaced are the Thales Avionics pitot tubes used in some Airbus A330 and A340 aircraft, CNN said. They measure "ram air pressure," the pressure exerted on the plane as it flies through the air, and are part of a system used to determine air speed.

No U.S. airlines use the Airbus A340, the FAA said.

The FAA says the order was to "prevent airspeed discrepancies, which could lead to disconnect of the autopilot and/or auto-thrust functions and consequent increased pilot workload."