Almost ONE THOUSAND jets grounded as Airbus admits urgent repairs needed after US flight in horror plunge
Hundreds of Airbus planes were grounded over the holiday weekend as the manufacturer tried to fix an urgent technical issue that is thought to have caused a jet to fall from the sky.
The horror incident on a JetBlue flight last month was attributed to a computer code error in Airbus’ A320 aircraft.
Thousands of jets were grounded on Friday, with most expected to be completed by Saturday, as Airbus races to release a software update for its 6,000 A320 aircraft.
However, approximately 900 older aircraft in the Airbus fleet require a completely new computer, causing further delays.
The timeline for this change is unknown at this time.
American Airlines currently has four of its 209 aircraft affected by the software update.
United Airlines told the Daily Mail: ‘There will be no impact on our operation today’ but did not specify whether any of its fleet were among the 900 affected.
The problem with the A320 aircraft was discovered after a JetBlue flight from Cancun, Mexico, to Newark, New Jersey, suddenly experienced an uncontrolled descent thousands of feet into the air on October 30.
Nearly 1,000 aircraft were grounded as airlines worked quickly to update the affected Airbus fleet. Nearly 900 planes worldwide need computer replacement, while others still need software updates
The emergency update comes after a JetBlue plane nearly crashed out of the sky during flight on October 30 (pictured: stock image)
The crash injured at least 15 people and forced them to make an emergency landing.
US companies Delta, JetBlue and United have large A320 family fleets. Delta has roughly 315, but fewer than 50 are affected by the software update, a spokesperson told the Daily Mail on Saturday. United’s Airbus family has 122.
American Airlines has the largest A320 fleet in the world, with a total of 480 units. Only 209 people were affected by the software update.
It’s unclear whether any of the companies have older aircraft that need a complete computer replacement. The Daily Mail contacted JetBlue, Delta and Spirit for an update on their fleets.
French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot said the updates went ‘very smoothly’ for more than 5,000 aircraft and fewer than 100 aircraft needed to be updated.
Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury apologized to passengers for the inconvenience caused during one of the busiest travel weekends in the United States.
‘I would like to sincerely apologize to our airline customers and passengers who are currently affected. But when people fly on one of our Airbus Aircraft, as millions of us do every day, we believe nothing is more important than safety,” he wrote on LinkedIn on Saturday.
‘Our teams are working around the clock to support our operators and ensure these updates are implemented as quickly as possible to get aircraft back into the skies and resume normal operations with the safety assurance you expect from Airbus.’
Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury apologized to passengers for the inconvenience caused during one of the busiest travel weekends in the US
American Airlines has the world’s largest Airbus fleet. There were only four more aircraft out of 209 that needed updating
AirAsia, which also has a large fleet of Airbus aircraft, said that it aims to complete the update reverting to the old software version within 48 hours.
European airline Wizz Air managed to complete the upgrades overnight and India’s IndiGo completed 184 out of 200 aircraft. According to Reuters, Air India operated 69 or 113 flights.
Australian budget airline JetStar said some of its flights will be affected by the update.
Pope Leo was also affected by the chaos. A technician was sent to Istanbul to make sure the plane that will carry him tomorrow is safe.
ITA Airways flew a technician to Istanbul for the necessary component and its installation, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said today.
US company Southwest Airlines is the only airline safe from recall because its fleet consists entirely of Boeing 737 aircraft.
The A320 aircraft family also includes the smaller A319 and larger A321 models. Most new jets will only require a software update, but on older aircraft the onboard computer will need to be replaced.
