Airbus is scrambling to fix what it said was a serious software problem that presents a risk on the A320 family of jets after disclosing the issue in the wake of the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines plane earlier this month, which killed all 157 people onboard. The glitch led Airbus to tell airlines on Thursday to carry out a major overhaul of thousands of planes, dispatched among more than 100 carriers, as soon as possible. The problem stemmed from what investigators now believe was high-intensity solar radiation that scrambled vital flight-control data on certain A320s, leading to a potentially jolting altitude mishap on a single July flight. That scare has now led to one of the biggest safety-related fleet recalls in aviation history.
On Friday, Airbus issued an emergency directive: Some 6,000 jets around the world need to have their software updated — and some may also need hardware modifications — before they can fly again. That is more than half of the global A320 fleet. Airlines and regulators in almost every corner of the world have moved to ground or otherwise temporarily sideline affected planes until the updates can be installed. The recall affects carriers as far flung as the United States and Europe, and to India, Japan, Australia — beyond.
The fix itself appears relatively straightforward for most jets: return the software to a previous, intact version, a process that typically requires only a few hours per plane. For older, or more exposed aircraft however, there could be a hardware update needed — which is a slower process. Industry sources had originally feared that hundreds of planes would require the longer turnaround times, but as modifications are issued across the fleet, there have been suggestions that the number will be fewer than initially anticipated.
That said — it couldn’t have come at a worse time. The order to update came as airlines were already getting ready for a big burst of travel. In the U.S., the recall came on one of the busiest weekends for travel in recent years, and carriers scrambled to adjust schedules, cancel or reroute flights, and deal with the logistics implications as well as any fallout from customers.
Some major operators responded quickly. One U.S. airline cut its total number planes that are affected, from more than 340 to 209, after further analysis — and by Saturday night there were just a few airplanes left at each carrier awaiting updates as crews worked through the night to finish the fix. In other regions of the world, airlines were working through the night: in India, more than half of affected airplanes had already been updated as of midday; in Europe and Japan, multiple carriers said they were nearly done.
The answer, from Airbus’s leadership anyway, has been blunt: apology, urgency and the most sweeping patch campaign in the history of aviation. Guillaume Faury, the chief executive of Airbus, acknowledged the “huge logistical challenges and delays” but said teams were working around-the-clock to assist operators and return operations to “safe, normal flight.”
For travelers, the worldwide grounding meant canceled early morning flights, out-of-the-way trip itineraries and weekend travel chaos — as well as tangled holiday plans. Some airlines canceled scores of flights while others forecast possible continued disruption through the first few days of December as flights restarted in a phased return to service.
The underlying issue is a grim illustration of how vulnerable modern avionics can be. The flaw had affected the ELAC (elevator and aileron computer) flight-control system of the plane, which is responsible for controlling an airplane’s pitch or nose angle — crucial in flying. This data corruption in the software induced by solar activity intensified the problem, making it more hazardous and less predictable.
Some analysts and experts believe the issue may mean renewed attention to jet systems’ vulnerabilities — particularly as such planes age and more A320s continue operating worldwide. So far, the A320 family of jets has been considered the workhorse of worldwide aviation; now, many people will be questioning whether its trustworthiness can withstand a combination of software and cosmic radiation.
Even as airlines race to make updates, the ripple effects are there: grounded planes, travel plans disrupted, added pressure on maintenance hangars already stretched by other repairs and a worldwide shortage of technicians. Regulators in Europe and the U.S. insisted on all fixes before any additional flights, reinforcing that safety overrides convenience.
And yet there’s some comfort in how quickly many carriers acted. Within 24 hours after Airbus’s call for a return and the regulator’s safety directive, most of the world’s airlines moved to clear their fleets. For something with the potential to be disastrous, a quick and decisive reaction could have prevented something much worse.
For now, Airbus and aviation regulators around the world are confronting pressing questions — about how a vulnerability to solar radiation could have gotten through testing; why it wasn’t spotted for so long; and what more must be done to protect airplanes from environmental as well as electronic threats. The recall — and its massive scale — may prompt a broader rethink of how much one can routinely depend on software for flight safety.
