European OEM Airbus has issued an alert to operators of Airbus A320 family warning them to a potential risk of critical flight control data corruption from intense solar radiation.
Airbus worked with aviation authorities, including European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), after identifying a significant number of A320 family aircraft which are affected by the issue and acknowledges this will likely lead to operator disruption while aircraft are made safe to fly.
The fault was identified after analysis of a JetBlue flight in October which experienced a sudden drop in altitude injuring 15 people.
Most aircraft affected can be rectified by a software update however some, thought to be around 900, will also require hardware updates. Models affected include the A318, A319, A320 and A321
Operators are being alerted to the precautionary measures they need to make, including software updates, by an Alert Operations Transmission (AOT) and the measures form part of an Emergency Airworthiness Directive issued by EASA.
In a statement Airbus said: “We apologise for the inconvenience caused and will work closely with operators, while keeping safety as our number one and overriding priority.”
The A320 family is the world’s best selling single-aisle airliner family and is used by several UK airlines including British Airways, easyJet and Jet2.
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