Thousands of Airbus planes have been grounded after it was discovered that intense solar radiation could disrupt onboard flight control computers, causing delays worldwide.
Around 6,000 A320 aircraft are believed to be affected, half of the European company’s global fleet, but it is understood most planes will be able to fly again after a quick software update.
Britain’s aviation regulator said there would be “some disruption and cancellation of flights”, although the impact on airports appears limited.
Airbus said it discovered the problem following an investigation into an incident in which a plane flying between the US and Mexico suddenly lost altitude in October.
The JetBlue Airways plane made an emergency landing in Florida after at least 15 people were injured.
In addition to the A320, the company’s best-selling aircraft, the vulnerability also affects the A318, A319 and A321 models.
It is understood that on around 5,100 Airbus aircraft the problem can be resolved using a relatively simple software update, which typically takes around three hours.
However, the remaining 900 aircraft, which are older versions, will need to have their on-board computers physically replaced and will not be allowed to carry passengers again until the job is completed.
How long this takes depends on the availability of replacement computers.
Airbus said it recognized that this will lead to “operational disruptions for passengers and customers” and has apologised.
Aviation analyst Sally Gethin told BBC News the situation was “extraordinary”. The disruption for passengers will depend on the “different approaches” airlines take to upgrade their software.
“I understand Lufthansa is saying it will retire its planes for this, but in other cases airlines are saying this shouldn’t have a big impact at all,” she said.
In Britain, disruption at airports has been limited so far. London’s Gatwick Airport reported “some disruption”, while Heathrow said there were no cancellations.
The extent of the disruption varies by airline: British Airways is not heavily affected by the issue, while Wizz Air and Air India said they were already making the updates.
Easyjet said it “expected this to cause some disruption” but later added it had started and “already completed the software update on many aircraft” and was planning a full overhaul on Saturday.
In the US, the software problem arose on the same weekend as Thanksgiving, one of the busiest travel periods of the year.
American Airlines said 340 of its planes were affected and that it expected “some operational delays,” but added that the vast majority of updates would be completed by Friday or Saturday. Delta Airlines said it believed the impact on its operations would be “limited.”
In Australia, budget carrier Jetstar canceled 90 flights after confirming that around a third of its fleet had been affected.
Tim Johnson, policy director at the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority, said the message from Airbus “may unfortunately mean there will be some disruption, delays or cancellations in the coming days”.
He added that aviation is still “one of the safest forms of transport” due to the rigorous maintenance programs airlines have put in place, and described the mass grounding of flights as a “very rare event”.
Transport Minister Heidi Alexander said that “the impact on UK airlines appears limited”, adding: “It is encouraging that this issue has been identified and will be addressed so quickly, demonstrating the high safety standards for aviation worldwide.”
‘Precaution’
The problem identified with A320 aircraft involves computer software that calculates an aircraft’s altitude.
Airbus discovered that its data could be damaged at high altitudes by the intense radiation periodically released by the sun.
That led to the October incident where a plane suddenly lost altitude – although the manufacturer said it was the only time an incident of its kind had occurred.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has issued an emergency airworthiness directive, ordering that the problem must be addressed before any aircraft can carry passengers again.
They will be allowed to make so-called “ferry flights”, without passengers, to reach a maintenance facility.
The A320 family consists of so-called ‘fly by wire’ aircraft. This means that there is no direct mechanical connection between the controls in the cockpit and the parts of the aircraft that actually control flight, with the pilot’s actions being processed by a computer.
