Qatar Airways said it is replacing the speed sensors on its Airbus A330 and A340 aircraft, but it has emphasized that the move was part of a maintenance programme to upgrade the sensors and not based on a directive from the manufacturer. An Air France Airbus plane carrying 228 people crashed into the Atlantic earlier this month and investigators said false speed measurements might have played a role. although the manufacturer has not given any such instructions. The metal pitot tubes are attached to the wing or fuselage of a plane.