India Completes Software Upgrades on 323 Airbus A320s Amid Global Flight Disruptions
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India's aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), has announced that Indian airlines have completed necessary software upgrades on 323 operational Airbus A320 family aircraft. This comes after a potential issue related to flight controls was identified, prompting Airbus to warn that intense solar radiation could corrupt critical flight control data on thousands of A320s worldwide. The issue first arose on October 30, when a JetBlue A320 experienced a sudden, un-commanded pitch-down due to a malfunction in its elevator-aileron computer. Investigators found that intense solar radiation could cause data corruption, potentially leading to uncommanded elevator movements and exceeding the aircraft's structural limits. Airbus subsequently issued a global alert and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued an Emergency Airworthiness Directive, prompting the DGCA to issue an Airworthiness Directive to Indian carriers. The upgrade was necessary to prevent a worst-case scenario where flights could be disrupted or worse. According to the DGCA, 323 out of 338 identified A320s in India have been upgraded. IndiGo completed upgrades on its 200 operational planes, while Air India finished upgrades on 100 operational planes. Air India Express completed upgrades for 23 A320 family aircraft. The global upgrade effort has resulted in hundreds of flight cancellations and delays worldwide, with over 6,500 aircraft requiring the necessary software fixes.
