Airbus requests immediate modifications to thousands of aircraft

Airbus has warned that flights will be disrupted after it requested urgent changes to thousands of planes after it was discovered that intense radiation from the sun could corrupt data important to flight controls.

Around 6,000 aircraft, making up around half of the European aviation giant’s global fleet, are thought to be affected, but it is understood most could undergo a simple software update.

The UK’s aviation regulator said implementing the updates would likely lead to “some disruptions and cancellations of flights”.

Airbus said the issue arose following a recent “incident” in the US involving an A320 family aircraft and apologized to passengers for the disruption.

The incident occurred on October 30, when a JetBlue Airways A320 made an emergency landing in Florida after a sudden decrease in altitude. It was stated that at least 15 people were injured.

The issue affects its best-selling aircraft, the A320, as well as models in the same design fleet, including the A318, A319 and A321.

It appears that the problem on around 5,100 Airbus aircraft could be fixed with a relatively simple software update. However, the remaining older version aircraft will also need new equipment and will have to be taken out of service for replacement.

Airbus said it acknowledged this would cause “operational disruption for passengers and customers” and apologized.

Wizz Air said some of its aircraft were among those requiring updates and was planning the necessary maintenance, while Air India said the directive from Airbus could lead to delays.

It seems that British Airways will not be affected much by this problem. Easyjet said it “expects this to cause some disruption” and will notify passengers directly.

“Safety is our top priority and easyJet operates its fleet of aircraft in strict accordance with manufacturers’ guidelines,” the airline said.

Civil Aviation Authority [CAA]The UK’s aviation regulator said “only some UK airlines were affected”.

“This requirement will mean that airlines using these aircraft will in some cases have to change the software in the coming days or remain grounded from Sunday until the software is replaced,” the regulator said.

Giancarlo Buono, Director of Aviation Safety at CAA, added: “Passengers should check with their airline if their flight is affected. Airlines have a responsibility to take care of passengers when a flight is delayed.”

The problem affecting aircraft is that intense solar and cosmic radiation at high altitudes can affect the operation of the ELAC computer that controls the elevators and ailerons. These are aerodynamic surfaces used to allow the aircraft to pitch up or down or turn.

The A320 family are aircraft known as “fly by wire” aircraft. This means that there is no direct mechanical connection between the controls in the cockpit and the parts of the aircraft that actually control the flight. The pilot’s movements are interpreted by the computers that actually “fly” the plane.

The manufacturer issued an alert to airlines, asking them to “take immediate action to implement existing software and/or hardware protection and ensure the safe flying of the fleet.”

Following Airbus’ announcement, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) confirmed that it had ordered “precautionary measures” on some of its global fleet of Airbus 320 aircraft.