Solar Flare Alert: Global Airlines Rush to Upgrade Over 6,000 Aircraft Amid Safety Concerns
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A rare safety directive issued by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency has prompted airlines worldwide to upgrade software on over 6,000 Airbus planes, including nearly 400 in India. The urgent fix comes after a recent incident involving a JetBlue jetliner, which suffered a computer glitch, injuring 10 people. The directive affects more than half of the Airbus A320 family aircraft in service globally, which includes the most-delivered commercial airliner in history. The warning stated that a flaw in the flight control system can potentially lead to uncommanded aircraft movement, exceeding structural limits in the worst-case scenario. Indian airlines moved swiftly to comply with the directive, upgrading 270 of their 338 affected Airbus aircraft by Saturday evening. IndiGo completed software upgrades on all of its 200 affected aircraft, while Air India completed 90% of its 113 affected aircraft. Although no flights were cancelled, several were delayed, with an average delay of 35 minutes in Delhi and Mumbai. The advisory follows an incident on October 30 involving a JetBlue plane that suffered a computer glitch, resulting in a sudden unexpected downward pitch without pilot input. An investigation revealed that one of the plane's elevator-aileron computers malfunctioned. Airbus acknowledges that the upgrade requirement will lead to operational disruptions for passengers and customers. The A320 family is the company's most widely flown aircraft, with over 11,000 in operation. The sudden upgrade requirement is a significant headache for the manufacturer and airlines dependent on Airbus as their sole fleet provider. The A320 competes with Boeing's 737 model, and the two jetliner families are the workhorses of the civil aviation industry. Onboard software is increasingly critical to stable flight in modern aircraft, though a malfunctioning system can have catastrophic consequences. Boeing suffered two crashes in rapid succession a few years ago involving its latest 737 Max aircraft after a software system malfunctioned in flight. The fix announced includes both A320neo and the classic, older A320 family, Airbus said. Depending on the age of the aircraft, updates are either a hassle-free download or require a more cumbersome hardware change, with about 1,000 older jets needing an actual hardware upgrade and being grounded for the duration of the maintenance.
