Officials consider role of speed readings in Lion Air crash

Indonesian officials are focusing on faulty airspeed indicators as they investigate the deadly Lion Air crash, but safety experts say pilots should be able to work around problems with the sensors.

Investigators say the airspeed indicator on Lion Air’s Boeing jet malfunctioned on its last four flights, including the Oct. 29 crash that killed 189 people.

Such devices have been used for decades to tell pilots how fast they are flying. They fail on occasion, most often when tubes and sensors freeze during storms at high altitude, and they have been blamed for deadly crashes including Air France 447 in 2009.

Pilots train on simulators to learn how to fly safely when the indicators fail. In most cases, they say, failed sensors shouldn’t cause a crash.