Airbus grounded over 6,000 of its widely used jets for an urgent software update after one suddenly lost altitude mid-flight — a decision that could throw the global holiday travel season into chaos.
The aerospace giant said Friday its A320 fleet will be kept off the runway after uncovering a software flaw that could leave pilots unable to steer during solar storms — and urged all worldwide airlines using the jet to immediately update their systems to guard against radiation interference.
About 3,000 A320s were airborne when the grounding was announced.
“Analysis of a recent event involving an A320 Family aircraft has revealed that intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the function of flight controls,” the company said in its bulletin.
“Airbus has consequently identified a significant number of A320 Family aircraft currently in-service which may be impacted. Airbus acknowledges these recommendations will lead to operational disruptions to passengers and customers.”
The dangerous glitch came to light after the Federal Aviation Administration investigated an Oct. 30 JetBlue flight from Cancun, Mexico, to Newark, New Jersey, that suddenly plunged in altitude, injuring 15 passengers and forcing an emergency landing in Florida.
The investigation found that intense solar radiation corrupted the plane’s flight control computers, causing it to lose positioning data and drop from 35,000 feet to 10,000 feet.
Airlines across the US, South America, Europe and India warned the emergency fixes could trigger widespread flight delays and cancellations.
American Airlines, the world’s largest A320 operator, said about 340 of its 480 aircraft will need the update, with each plane requiring roughly two hours and repairs are expected to be completed by Saturday.
Lufthansa, IndiGo and easyJet said they would briefly take planes out of service to perform the repairs.
Colombian carrier Avianca warned the recall will affect more than 70% of its fleet, prompting the airline to halt ticket sales for travel through Dec. 8.
Airbus’ latest recall marks the largest ever in the company’s 55-year history.
“Airbus has worked proactively with the aviation authorities to request immediate precautionary action from operators via an Alert Operators Transmission (AOT) in order to implement the available software and/or hardware protection, and ensure the fleet is safe to fly,” the company said.
“We apologise for the inconvenience caused and will work closely with operators, while keeping safety as our number one and overriding priority.”
With Post wires
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