Airlines across the world were forced to ground around 6,000 Airbus 320-family aircraft after the plane manufacturer issued a technical advisory for major upgrades. Airbus reportedly discovered that intense solar radiation can corrupt critical flight control systems. In the wake of Airbus’ emergency directive, several flight services worldwide, including India, have been affected.
Why Airbus Is Recalling A320 Fleet?
According to reports, the action by Airbus had come almost a month after a JetBlue flight from Cancun to Newark experienced an uncommanded pitch-down movement mid-flight and started nosediving without any inputs from the pilot. Several passengers were injured in the incident and the flight made an emergency landing in Florida, United States.
In the investigation into the incident, it was found that the aircraft’s ELAC 2 computer suffered a malfunction due to intense solar radiation and it corrupted data required for a stable flight. Notably, the ELAC 2 computer controls elevator and aileron surfaces.
According to a report by Financial Express, IndiGo has around 370 A320-family aircraft, Air India has 127 planes and Air India Express has about 40 jets in their fleet.
Meanwhile, air travel across several routes may face disruptions as Air India and IndiGo announced potential delays and schedule adjustments following the directive of Airbus.
In a post on X, Air India wrote it is “aware of a directive from Airbus related to its A320 family aircraft currently in-service across airline operators,” noting that the requirement will involve a “software/hardware realignment” on part of its fleet.
We are aware of a directive from Airbus related to its A320 family aircraft currently in service across airline operators. This will result in a software/hardware realignment on a part of our fleet, leading to longer turnaround time and delays to our scheduled operations,” the post read.
“Air India regrets any inconvenience this may cause to passengers till the reset is carried out across the fleet. We request customers to check their flight status at https://airindia.com/in/en/manage/flight-status.html before heading to the airport and connect with our contact centre at 011-69329333, 011-69329999 for any further assistance,” the post further read.
IndiGo, in its advisory, emphasised that “safety comes first” and confirmed it is carrying out the mandated updates across its A320 aircraft “with full diligence and care, in line with all safety protocols.” “Safety comes first. Always… Airbus has issued a technical advisory for the global A320 fleet. We are proactively completing the mandated updates on our aircraft with full diligence and care, in line with all safety protocols. While we work through these precautionary updates, some flights may see some slight schedule changes,” the post read.
DGCA’s Statement:
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued an airworthiness directive banning the use of multiple models of the Airbus family of aircraft following concerns over safety risks regarding a software update by the company.
This is to be ensured that no person shall operate the product which falls under the applicability of this mandatory modification except those which are in accordance with the compliance to requirement of Mandatory Modification(s)/application Airworthiness Directive(s),” read the order issued by Assistant Director (Airworthiness) Nishikant Sharma.
After DGCA grounded Airbus A320 aircraft, over 330 flights services have been hit in India.
