Airbus Confirms A320 Fleet Fix Near Completion After Global Safety Scare
Manufacturer apologises for delays after solar radiation risk required urgent software update on thousands of jets; fewer than 100 remain grounded
- A global safety alert was issued for the Airbus A320 fleet due to a risk that intense solar radiation could corrupt a critical flight control computer (ELAC B).
- The issue required a mandatory software update or hardware replacement on an estimated 6,000 potentially impacted aircraft worldwide.
- Airbus has confirmed that the "vast majority" of the affected fleet has now received the necessary fix.
- Fewer than 100 aircraft are still awaiting the modification before they can return to service.
Manufacturer apologises for delays after solar radiation risk required urgent software update on thousands of jets; fewer than 100 remain grounded.
Airbus confirmed on Monday that the vast majority of its A320 Family fleet have now received mandatory precautionary modifications, with the company racing to return fewer than 100 remaining aircraft to service following a global safety alert issued late last week.
The update follows the publication of an Alert Operators Transmission (AOT) on 28 November, which called for immediate action on specific in-service A320 Family jets.
The urgent action was triggered after an analysis of a recent in-service incident—reportedly a JetBlue A320 flight in October which experienced an uncommanded pitch-down movement—revealed a critical vulnerability.
Airbus and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) determined that intense solar radiation could corrupt data in the aircraft’s Elevator Aileron Computer (ELAC B), a component critical to flight controls.
In response, EASA issued an Emergency Airworthiness Directive (EAD) mandating that operators modify or replace the affected ELAC B units running the vulnerable software standard (L104) with the updated version (L103+).
The necessary software fix, which involves uploading the earlier, non-vulnerable software version, was reportedly estimated to take around two to three hours per aircraft.
Out of an estimated 6,000 aircraft potentially impacted worldwide, Airbus confirmed on Monday that the "vast majority" have now received the necessary software or hardware protection.
"We are working with our airline customers to support the modification of less than 100 remaining aircraft to ensure they can be returned to service," a company statement read.
Airbus offered an apology for the ensuing disruption, which caused operational challenges and delays for numerous carriers, including the temporary grounding of affected planes over the busy travel weekend.
Major European operators, including easyJet and Wizz Air, reported successfully completing the required updates with minimal or zero cancellations.
The company concluded by thanking all stakeholders for their rapid response, noting that the decision to issue the alert was based on its policy to "put safety above all other considerations."
