A rare failure of unlikely origin led Airbus to launch, in recent days, an emergency global operation to update the software of thousands of A320 family aircraft.
The problem, related to the system responsible for controlling essential flight control surfaces, caused delays, aircraft relocations and even temporary suspension of ticket sales by some companies.
The alert was triggered after the analysis of an incident that occurred in October, involving a JetBlue Airbus A320 that was traveling on the Cancún–Newark route. Halfway through the journey, the jet began a sudden descent without any command from the pilots. Passengers were injured and the crew had to divert to Tampa, where the emergency landing was made.
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The plane’s behavior, considered atypical for a widely tested model, revealed a critical error in the ELAC system, the computer responsible for operating the elevators and ailerons, fundamental parts for maintaining balance and the flight trajectory.
Investigations detected data corruption in ELAC. The origin, however, deviated from traditional patterns of electronic failure: high-energy particles from the Sun would have reached sensitive components of the system.
At cruising altitudes, atmospheric protection is less, and phenomena known as single event upsets — changes caused by solar radiation in microchips — can modify bits of information. A change from “0” to “1”, or vice versa, is enough to generate incorrect commands. In the case of JetBlue, this change directly compromised control of the aircraft.
Airbus then ordered the immediate update of the software of around 6,000 A320 aircraft in operation on the planet. While the majority of the fleet was quickly fixed, approximately 100 planes will remain on the ground longer, awaiting additional procedures.
Latin American Companies
The operational impact varied around the world. In Latin America, companies like Avianca suffered more intensely: more than 70% of its fleet was affected, forcing the company to suspend ticket sales until December 8th.
In the United States and Europe, the effect was more controlled, despite the period of high flow due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Lufthansa, EasyJet, United and American Airlines reported that they managed to reorganize networks and keep most flights within normal limits.
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Airbus apologizes
In a statement, Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury apologized to the affected airlines and passengers. He highlighted that safety remains “the absolute value” of the company and recalled that the approximately 9,400 A320 family jets transport millions of people daily.
The manufacturer stated that it will continue to monitor the performance of the aircraft after the update and that it is investigating additional measures to prevent new incidents related to solar radiation, a growing challenge in periods of greater solar activity.
With the correction progressing, the expectation is that airline networks will gradually return to normal over the next week.
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