Flights disrupted after Airbus finds strong solar radiation could affect flight control data

Thousands of Airbus planes have been grounded after it was discovered that intense solar radiation could interfere with onboard flight control computers and cause flight delays around the world.

Around 6,000 A320 aircraft are believed to be affected, half of the European company’s global fleet, but it is understood most will be able to fly again after a quick software update.

Britain’s aviation regulator said that while the impact on airports appeared to be limited, “there will be some disruption and cancellations to flights”.

Airbus said it discovered the problem after an investigation into an incident in October when a plane flying between the United States and Mexico suddenly lost altitude.

The JetBlue flight made an emergency landing in Florida after injuring at least 15 people.

In addition to the A320, the company’s best-selling aircraft, the vulnerability also affects the A318, A319 and A321 models.

It is understood that on about 5,100 Airbus aircraft, the problem can be solved with a relatively simple software update, which usually takes about three hours.

However, the remaining 900 aircraft are older versions that require physical replacement of onboard computers and will not be allowed to carry passengers again until the work is completed.

The length of time required depends on the availability of replacement computers.

Airbus said it acknowledged it would cause “operational disruption for passengers and customers” and had apologized.

Aviation analyst Sally Gethin told BBC News the situation was “highly unusual” and said disruption to passengers would depend on the “different approaches” airlines take to upgrade their software.

In the UK, disruption at airports has so far been limited. London Gatwick Airport reported “some disruption” while Heathrow Airport said it had not experienced any flight cancellations. Manchester Airport said it expected no major problems.

The level of disruption varies across airlines: British Airways is not understood to be severely affected by the issue, while Wizz Air and Air India say they are already working on updates.

Travel journalist Simon Calder told the BBC that public figures showed Air France had been affected more than any other airline, with 50 flights scheduled to and from its Paris hub canceled on Saturday morning.

EasyJet, meanwhile, said it “expected this to cause some disruption” but later added that it had begun and “has completed a software update for a number of aircraft” and planned to provide full service on Saturday.

In the United States, the software issue occurred the same weekend as Thanksgiving, one of the busiest travel times of the year.

American Airlines said 340 of its aircraft were affected and it expected “some operational delays,” but added that the vast majority of updates would be completed by Friday or Saturday. Delta Air Lines said it believed the impact on its operations would be “limited.”

In Australia, budget airline Jetstar canceled 90 flights after confirming around a third of its fleet was affected, with disruptions expected to continue throughout the weekend, although most aircraft have been updated.

Tim Johnson, director of policy at the UK Civil Aviation Authority, said Airbus’s notice “unfortunately may mean some disruption, delays or cancellations over the coming days”.

He added that aviation remained “one of the safest modes of transport” due to stringent maintenance plans put in place by airlines, and described the widespread grounding of flights as a “very rare event”.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said “the impact on British airlines appears to be limited”, adding: “It is encouraging that this issue has been identified and will be resolved so quickly, which demonstrates the high standards of aviation safety worldwide.”

The problems with the A320 aircraft are related to the calculation software that calculates the altitude of the aircraft.

Airbus found that at high altitudes its data could be corrupted by the intense radiation that the sun regularly releases.

This led to an incident in October in which a plane suddenly lost altitude – although the manufacturer said this was the only time such an incident had occurred.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has issued an emergency airworthiness directive requiring every aircraft to resolve the issue before it can carry passengers again.

They will be allowed to make so-called “ferry flights” without passengers to reach maintenance facilities.

The A320 family are so-called fly-by-wire aircraft. This means there is no direct mechanical connection between the controls in the cockpit and the parts of the aircraft that actually control flight, with the pilot’s actions being processed by the computer.