Airbus A320 Software Fix Ordered After JetBlue Altitude Drop
A plane used extensively by commercial airlines around the world needs a software fix to fix an issue that contributed to the sudden drop in altitude of a JetBlue plane last month, the manufacturer and European aviation safety regulators said Friday.
This step could cause some flight delays as U.S. travelers return home from the Thanksgiving holiday.
Airbus said analysis of the JetBlue incident revealed that intense solar radiation could corrupt data critical to the operation of flight controls on A320 family aircraft.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency has issued a directive requiring A320 operators to address this issue. This could cause “short-term disruptions” to flight schedules, the agency said.
American Airlines has approximately 480 aircraft of the A320 family, 209 of which are affected. The airline said the fix will take about two hours for most aircraft, and updates for the vast majority should be completed by Friday. Some of it will be completed on Saturday.
American Airlines expects some delays but said it is focused on limiting cancellations as customers return home from Thanksgiving holiday travel. He said safety will be his top priority.
Delta said it expected the problem to affect fewer than 50 of its A321neo aircraft. United said six planes in its fleet were affected and minor disruptions were expected on a few flights. Hawaiian Airlines said it was unaffected.
The fix could be resolved between flights or during nightly aircraft checks, said Mike Stengel, partner at aerospace industry management consulting firm AeroDynamic Advisory.
“It’s certainly not ideal for this to happen on a ubiquitous aircraft on a busy holiday weekend,” Stengel said. “The good thing, though, is that it should only take a few hours to update the software.”
At least 15 JetBlue passengers were injured and hospitalized in the incident that occurred on a flight from Cancun, Mexico, to Newark, New Jersey, on October 30. The plane was diverted to Tampa, Florida.
Airbus is registered in the Netherlands but has its headquarters in France.
It is one of the world’s largest aircraft manufacturers, along with Boeing.
Stengel said the A320 is the main competitor to the Boeing 737. Airbus said it updated the engine in the mid-2010s and aircraft in this category are called A320neo.
Airbus’ website stated that the A320 is the world’s best-selling single-aisle aircraft family.
