Airbus Grounds Planes for Solar Radiation Software Fix

Thousands of airbus planes were grounded for a software update after intense solar radiation was discovered to interfere with onboard flight control computers.

Approximately 6,000 A320 planes – half of Airbus’s global fleet – were affected,though many returned to service within hours after receiving the update.

The UK’s aviation regulator anticipated “some disruption and cancellations to flights,” but the impact at airports appears limited.

Airbus identified the issue during an investigation into an incident where a plane flying between the US and Mexico suddenly lost altitude in October.

the JetBlue Airways flight made an emergency landing in Florida,injuring at least 15 people.

The vulnerability extends beyond the A320 to include the A318, A319, and A321 models.

A software update, typically taking around three hours, resolves the issue on approximately 5,100 Airbus planes.

Wizz Air confirmed it completed the update overnight on all affected A320 aircraft, and all flights on Saturday operated normally.

However, 900 older aircraft require physical replacement of onboard computers and cannot carry passengers until the work is finished. The timeframe depends on the availability of replacement computers.

Airbus acknowledged the issue and is working to resolve it.