Airbus Orders Software Fix for Thousands of Planes Due to Solar Radiation Risk

Airbus has instructed airlines to update software on roughly 6,000 aircraft from its A320 family after determining that solar radiation could interfere with critical flight-control data, according to The Guardian. The directive has triggered flight delays and cancellations worldwide.

The company said the measures were prompted after “analysis of a recent event involving an A320 Family aircraft revealed that intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls.”

Industry sources cited by Reuters said the incident involved a JetBlue flight on October 30, travelling from Cancun, Mexico, to Newark, New Jersey. During the journey, the aircraft unexpectedly lost altitude and was forced to divert to Tampa for an emergency landing.

According to reports, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has issued an emergency airworthiness directive requiring affected aircraft to revert to an earlier software version before returning to service. Airbus added that fewer planes will also need hardware replacements to address the issue entirely.