AFTERMATH OF AIR FRANCE TRAGEDY - AT 11:18 P.M. ET:  You'll recall the recent crash of Air France flight 447 off the coast of South America.  The cause has still not been determined, and we've followed the story because of the possibility of terrorism, which has been largely ruled out.  But there has been an intriguing development:

Paris - The top pilots' union at Air France demanded on Wednesday that European airspeed monitors be replaced by US-made models across the airline's fleet after a new malfunction was reported this month.

An Airbus 320 equipped with new speed probes made by European electronics giant Thales was flying from Rome to Paris on July 13 when the sensors, known as pitot tubes, broke down, Air France said late on Tuesday.

The pilots' union demanded the Thales monitors be replaced by those made by US-based Goodrich, which provides pitot tubes to 70% of the world's aircraft.

Air France decided on June 12 to upgrade all pitot probes after pilots raised the alarm following the crash of Flight 447 in the Atlantic with 228 people on board, the airline's worst disaster in its 75-year history.

The union said the Goodrich models' record showed it had been problem-free.

COMMENT:  You know, we make some good stuff here, and we should recognize that.  Too many Americans have had it pounded into their heads that "imported from Europe" means "better," but it often just means more expensive. 

The fact that a French pilots' union has asked for American equipment should at least help us get over the inferiority complex that some Americans have about products manufactured in the United States, or at least under the direction of American companies.  From pianos to trucks, "made in USA" still has a luster.

July 30, 2009