Sir - In the article "Airbus fits switch guards after A340 hydraulic incident" (Flight International, 12-18 February, P16), Airbus Industrie describes the move to install guards as part of its "pro-active" stance on cockpit safety.
If that stance were really pro-active, would not the A340 switch guards have been fitted before the incident?
This Airbus move appears to be re-active.
COLIN WARD
Yateley, Hampshire, UK
Sir - The penultimate paragraph should have said: "The four hydraulic valve switches are immediately adjacent to those for fuel cross-feed. More than 100 push buttons or lights on the overhead panel are of the same design."
Today, just a few of them are guarded. The push buttons for the flight-control computers, however, are not.
Capt CHRISTIAN KEPP
Rabertshausen, Germany
Source: Flight International
