“Analysis of a recent event involving an A320 family aircraft revealed that intense solar radiation could corrupt data critical to the operation of flight controls.” With this worrying paragraph comes an alert issued this week by European aircraft manufacturer Airbus, which acknowledged that it had identified a “significant number” of aircraft “that could be affected.”
The A320, a narrow-body plane marketed for short flights, is one of the best planes sold by Airbus. Various sources speculate the review will be needed at around 6,000 units, although the manufacturer has pinpointed the timing of this emergency. No details were provided about the incident that occurred during the inspection.
Airbus management said it worked day after day with various aviation authorities “to request immediate preventive measures from operators.” The first step will be to send an Alert to Operator (AOT) to airlines “to implement available software and hardware protection, and ensure the fleet is safe to fly.” The urgent situation will be reflected in the Emergency Aircraft Directive signed by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).
Since Airbus, the mandatory overhaul of hundreds of aircraft is expected to lead to operational interruptions for airlines and their passengers. “We apologize for the injuries that occurred and will work diligently with the operators, keeping safety as our first priority,” concluded the statement issued by the industrial giant.
(The article is under development. It will be expanded upon.)