The aircraft device at the center of two Boeing plane disasters had been flagged as faulty more than 200 times, it has emerged.
Flight crews had warned of broken ‘angle of attack’ sensors on a regular basis – including dozens of times on Boeing jets.
The sensors, which can force the nose of a plane downwards, have been linked to the Indonesia and Ethiopia air disasters which killed a combined 346 people.
The incident reports, compiled by CNN, add to the growing pressure on Boeing in a crisis which has cost the planemaking giant at least $1billion so far.
The 216 complaints since 2004 reportedly include an emergency aboard a Boeing jet, when the flight crew declared that the angle of attack software had failed.
They are said to include incidents where the sensor was found to be frozen, struck by lightning or hit by flying birds, or otherwise badly installed.
Some of the problems reportedly forced pilots into emergency landings or abandoned take-offs.
The FAA had warned last year that a faulty sensor could cause ‘excessive nose-down attitude, significant altitude loss, and possible impact with terrain’.
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