Parts of the world’s air travel network were disrupted Friday after Airbus ordered immediate software fixes for 6,000 A320-series aircraft, a move that affected more than half of the narrow-body fleet and forced airlines to ground jets during one of the busiest travel weekends of the year.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency said in a directive that a JetBlue
flight on Oct. 30 experienced an “uncommanded and limited pitch down event.”
The disruption quickly spilled into U.S. holiday travel and stretched to Australia. Airbus said it issued the order after “a recent event involving an A320 Family aircraft has revealed that intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls.”
Regulators warned that the issue could lead to “an uncommanded elevator movement” in the worst-case scenario.
