PARIS: Europe’s Airbus said on Friday it was ordering an immediate software change on a “significant number” of its best-selling A320 family of jets in a move that industry sources said would bring disruption to half the global fleet, or thousands of jets.
The move must be carried out before the next routine flight, according to a separate bulletin to airlines, threatening cancellations or delays during one of the busiest travel weekends of the year in the United States and beyond.
Airbus said in a statement a recent incident involving an A320-family aircraft had revealed that intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls..
“Airbus acknowledges these recommendations will lead to operational disruptions to passengers and customers,” it said. Industry sources said the incident that triggered the unexpected repair action involved a JetBlue flight from Cancun, Mexico, to Newark, New Jersey, on Oct 30, in which several passengers were hurt following a sharp loss of altitude.
Flight 1230 made an emergency landing at Tampa, Florida, after a flight control problem and a sudden uncommanded drop in altitude, prompting an FAA investigation. JetBlue and the FAA had no immediate comment. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency is due to issue an emergency directive mandating the fix, Airbus said.
For about two-thirds of the affected jets, the recall will result in a relatively brief grounding as airlines revert to a previous software version, industry sources said.
Still, that comes at a time of intense demands on airline repair shops, already plagued by shortages of maintenance capacity and the grounding of hundreds of Airbus jets.
By Reuters
