(Nov 29): Airbus SE cautioned that more than half of its active A320 jetliner family fleet will need a software fix after a recent incident involving a JetBlue Airways Corp airliner revealed that “intense solar radiation” could corrupt data that helps maintain functioning flight controls.
The company said more than 6,500 jets in total may be impacted by the required fix, according to a statement sent by the European plane-maker on Friday. A separate directive by regulators said the upgrade must happen before an aircraft’s next regular flight.
“Airbus acknowledges these recommendations will lead to operational disruptions to passengers and customers,” the company said.
The advisory follows an unnerving incident on Oct 30 involving a JetBlue aircraft flying from Cancun to Newark, New Jersey, that suffered a computer glitch, resulting in a sudden, unexpected downward pitch without pilot input. Nobody was injured, and the jet diverted to Tampa, Florida. But a later investigation revealed that one of the plane’s elevator-aileron computers — known as ELAC 2 — had malfunctioned.
The finding risks becoming a significant headache for Airbus, given the A320 family is the company’s by far most widely flown aircraft, with more than 11,000 in operation. Some airlines have already responded and begun performing the upgrades. American Airlines Group Inc said about 340 jets are affected, and that the vast majority will receive the update on Friday and Saturday.
“Though we expect some delays as we accomplish these updates, we are intently focused on limiting cancellations — especially with customers returning home from holiday travel,” the carrier said in a statement.
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According to people familiar with the situation, most of the jets can receive an uncomplicated update from the cockpit with minimal downtime. But about 1,000 older jets will need an actual hardware upgrade and will have to be grounded for the duration of the maintenance, said the people, asking not to be identified discussing non-public findings.
Hungarian discount carrier Wizz Air Holdings plc said that it had “immediately scheduled the necessary maintenance to ensure full compliance with the identified mitigation”.
As a result, some flights over the weekend may be affected, said the airline, which operates an Airbus-only fleet.
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Japan’s ANA Holdings Inc cancelled 65 flights on Saturday, affecting roughly 9,400 passengers, the airline said in a statement.
Services were also cancelled in Australia and New Zealand Saturday, causing travel disruption, as Qantas Airways Ltd subsidiary Jetstar and Air New Zealand Ltd grounded some of their A320s for the software upgrade.
The announcement by Airbus comes during one of the busiest travel seasons in the US, with the Thanksgiving migration of millions of people in full swing. Airlines and travellers have already had to contend with disruptions caused by bad weather and the recent government shutdown that prompted a partial reduction in aircraft movements.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), the region’s regulator, said that A320 operators will need to replace or modify each affected ELAC with a serviceable system.
The regulator said the emergency advisory followed the recent “uncommanded and limited pitch down event” experienced by the JetBlue aircraft. While the autopilot remained engaged throughout the flight, the result was “a brief and limited loss of altitude”, EASA said of the JetBlue incident.
“Preliminary technical assessment done by Airbus identified a malfunction of the affected ELAC as possible contributing factor,” EASA said. “This condition, if not corrected, could lead in the worst-case scenario to an uncommanded elevator movement that may result in exceeding the aircraft’s structural capability.”
The UK Civil Aviation Authority said separately that airlines flying the affected aircraft will in some cases have to change software over the days ahead or remain on the ground from Sunday, though only some UK airlines are affected. British Airways, the biggest carrier in the UK, won’t experience any passenger impact, the regulator said.
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The A320 is the competing aircraft to Boeing Co 737 model, and the two jetliner families are the workhorses of the civil aviation industry. Airbus has already had to absorb engine issues on its newer A320neo jets, involving those built by Pratt & Whitney, that have forced hundreds of jets to be taken out of service temporarily for maintenance.
The A320 is flown using so-called fly-by-wire, which rely on electronic inputs rather than hydraulic mechanisms. The ELAC system, which stands for elevator aileron computers, helps manage critical flight parameters such as stabiliser trip and ensures the aircraft remains within its prescribed flight envelope by preventing excessive or accidental inputs.
Airbus introduced the aircraft in question in the late 1980s, and its wild success turned the European plane-maker into the No 1 globally, leapfrogging Boeing. The A320 family today includes the smaller A319 model, the classic A320 and the larger and increasingly popular A321. Airbus put new, more fuel-efficient engines on the airline about a decade ago, the so-called new engine option, or neo.
The fix announced on Friday includes both A320neo and the classic, older A320 family, Airbus said.
On-board 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 called MCAS malfunctioned in flight.
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