Airbus issues major recall after flight-control event
Europe’s Airbus has immediately ordered a software change for a significant portion of its best-selling A320 family jets, in a move that industry sources said would cover around 6,000 jets, more than half the global fleet.
Airbus said on Friday that a recent incident involving an A320 family aircraft revealed that intense solar radiation can corrupt data critical to the operation of flight controls.
“Airbus acknowledges that these recommendations will result in operational disruptions for passengers and customers,” the company said.
Airbus said the European Union Aviation Safety Agency would issue an emergency airworthiness directive.
For about two-thirds of the affected jets, the recall will result in a relatively short grounding as airlines revert to an earlier software version, industry sources said.
But the scale of the operation is expected to cause significant disruption, coming just ahead of the busiest travel weekend of the year in the United States.
Hundreds of jets may also need to have their equipment replaced, putting them out of service for weeks.
The incident that triggered the massive repair action involved a JetBlue flight from Cancun, Mexico, to Newark, New Jersey, on Oct. 30, industry sources said.
Flight 1230 made an emergency landing in Tampa, Florida, and several people were hospitalized after a flight control issue and sudden uncommanded altitude drop.
According to Airbus data, approximately 11,300 A320 family aircraft are in operation, of which 6440 are core A320 models.
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