US EditionAirbus A320 recall disrupts global travel after glitch linked to solar flares
Airbus ordered urgent software fixes for 6,000 A320 jets after solar radiation risk caused a JetBlue flight incident injuring 15 passengers, affecting half the global fleet.
- On Friday, Airbus ordered immediate software and hardware changes for A320 family aircraft, and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency issued an Emergency Airworthiness Directive requiring fixes before the next flight.
- Following a reported flight incident on October 30, Airbus assessed intense solar radiation could corrupt flight-control data and identified a possible Elevator Aileron Computer malfunction.
- Reports show nearly 6,000 A320 family aircraft worldwide need the update, with 338 affected in India per Directorate General of Civil Aviation data, and 189 fixed by 10 am Saturday.
- Indian carriers said delays and rescheduling occurred, with IndiGo completing fixes on 160 of 200 affected aircraft; Air France cancelled 35 flights, ANA Holdings 65, and Avianca halted sales through December 8 affecting over 70% of its fleet.
- The remedy mainly reverts ELAC software before the next flight, older A320 variants may require ELAC unit replacement, and aircraft could resume flying by Dec 1 or Dec 2.
188 Articles
188 Articles
When solar radiation grounds planes
In late November, airlines around the world were told to urgently ground planes within their Airbus A320 fleets. Investigators had found that intense bursts of solar radiation could corrupt data inside a flight-control computer, potentially causing an aircraft to pitch unexpectedly. Pitch is the movement of the aircraft nose upward or downward.
Half of world's A320 fleet grounded due to software issue, exposing global risk
Airbus said on Friday it was ordering immediate repairs to 6,000 of its widely used A320 family of jets in a sweeping recall affecting more than half the global fleet. The move, one of the largest recalls in the aerospace company's 55-year history, means major disruption to flights worldwide and exposes deep structural vulnerabilities in the global aviation system.
Airbus A320 Aircraft: a Flight Between Cancun and the Us Alerted About Failure in the Control System
The European aeronautical manufacturer Airbus announced on Friday that he detected an incident in a flight control program of his family A320, caused by an exposure to solar rays, which affects more than half of his family's best-selling devices. In a statement, the builder claims that the problem can affect “a significant number of A320 aircraft”, but various sources in the sector number it at about 6,000.
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