Global airline Airbus has issued urgently a software fix for hundreds of aircraft in its A320 family following a major glitch in flight raised questions regarding safety of flight. The decision — caused due to a recent mid-air accident that affects about 6,000 A320-series aircraft across the globe and is one of the biggest aircraft recalls across the entire fleet in aviation history.
What Happened
On the 30th of October an aircraft from the carrier JetBlue was hit by a sudden, uncontrolled nose-down motion as it travelled — even though the autopilot was still in operation. The plane eventually took an emergency diversion; however, the incident triggered an alarm. Investigators identified the root cause as an issue with the flight control computer system of the aircraft, particularly that of the Elevator Aileron Computer (ELAC). According to Airbus and international regulators like EASA, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) the cause of the problem lies in exposure to high-energy solar radiation. Charged particles from solar flares may alter critical flight-control information. In the worst-case situations, could result in “uncommanded elevator movement,” which could result in the plane’s structure being stressed.
What the Fix Entails
To combat this risk Airbus released the Alert Operators Transmission (AOT) asking all operators of affected A320 family aircraft to implement the recommended fix prior to their next flight. Most of the time it is a matter of reverting ELAC software back to a more secure, stable version. For older aircrafts that have vulnerable components, more complicated hardware replacement might be necessary.
The majority of aircraft can be updated within a couple of hours, which is an extremely quick process. For around 1,000 older jets that need upgrades to the hardware this process could take several weeks, leading to interruptions to flight timetables.
Global Impact
Since that the A320 series is among the most frequently utilized aircraft families The recall comes with vast implications. In India only, authorities believe that 338 A320-family aircraft used by local airlines like IndiGo, and Air India need the fix. In the meantime over half have already been updated.
Airlines have been scrambling to meet the requirements and regulators have stressed that safety remains the top priority, delays of 60 to 90 minutes have been reported on specific flights. In addition, there haven’t been many cancellations to date.
Why It Matters
The latest crackdown highlights the fact that even the most advanced “fly-by-wire” systems–once thought immune to these risks are vulnerable to threats that are not modern engineering like solar radiation. For passengers and aviation operators alike, this highlights the necessity of constant vigilance and quick fixes, as well as supervision by regulators. As Airbus said safety remains the number-one and top priority.
