About 6,000 planes must immediately update their software after an “incident” on a JetBlue flight from Cancun, Mexico to Newark, New Jersey on Oct. 30, in which several passengers were injured after a sudden loss of altitude.
The A320 aircraft made an emergency landing in Tampa, Florida, after a problem with flight controls and a sudden uncontrolled descent, prompting an investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Airbus has advised all customers using the existing software to “immediately discontinue” as after analysis it was found that strong solar radiation can corrupt data critical to the operation of flight control systems.
The blow appears to be among the biggest to affect Airbus in its 55-year history and comes just weeks after the A320 emerged as the model with the most deliveries, overtaking the Boeing 737.
That means thousands will have to be stranded, in addition to flying to repair centers.
Airlines from the United States to South America, Europe, India and New Zealand warned that the repairs could cause flight delays or cancellations.
OR American Airlines, the world’s largest user of A320 aircraft, said around 340 of its 480 A320 aircraft would need repairs. He said he expects most to be completed by Saturday, with about two hours required for each aircraft.
Other airlines said they would temporarily take aircraft out of service to make repairs, including Lufthansa of Germany, IndiGo of India. The British easyJet he said he had already completed the work.
Aegean’s announcement
Aegean is reassuring for the A320s. In a statement, it said that it has already upgraded the software and there is no problem in its flights.
AEGEAN informs that, following the directive issued last night by Airbus for the immediate software reset of certain A320 family aircraft, it activated all the required operational and technical procedures in a timely manner.
The implementation of the directive has already been successfully completed and the flight program continues as normal, without any change or variation.
The safety of our passengers and flight crews is our non-negotiable priority.”
Normally flights by Sky Express
According to Sky Express “none of its aircraft are among the 6,000 A320 family aircraft requiring a software upgrade”.
“SKY express informs the traveling public that the recent directive from Airbus, which affects 6000 aircraft of the A320 family, has no impact on the company’s fleet and flight schedule, as our aircraft are not included in the specific series that require the upgrade. All SKY express flights are operating as normal and business operations are continuing without interruption.”
