Solar flare vulnerability in A320 software forces emergency action by airlines

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Airbus has issued an advisory to airlines operating A320 family aircraft warning of a risk of flight control software corruption in the event of a solar flare.

“Analysis of a recent event involving an A320 Family aircraft has revealed that intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls,” the planemaker said in a short press release Friday.

The “recent event” referred to by Airbus was a sudden drop in altitude by a JetBlue Airways A320 on Oct. 30 that injured at least 15 aboard and forced an emergency landing in Florida, according to a person familiar with the triggering incident.

A separate Alert Operators Transmission (AOT), which has been reviewed by The Air Current, instructs airlines to address the issue before the next flight or risk grounding by an incoming European Union Aviation Safety Agency emergency airworthiness directive expected to be issued on Nov. 28.

Covered aircraft are spread across both the older A320ceo and current generation A320neo family aircraft, according to the AOT, suggesting thousands of aircraft with software vulnerable to the issue. The A320 is the most flown commercial aircraft globally.

Airlines worldwide have been notified of the risk over the past day, according to two senior airline leaders on different continents. 

“An Airbus A320 aircraft recently experienced an uncommanded and limited pitch down event. The autopilot remained engaged throughout the event, with a brief and limited loss of altitude, and the rest of the flight was uneventful,” according to the AOT sent to airlines on Friday.

“The subsequent investigation identified a vulnerability with the ELAC B hardware fitted with software L104 in case of exposure to solar flares. This identified vulnerability could lead in the worst case scenario to an uncommanded elevator movement that may result in exceeding the aircraft structural capability,” the advisory states.

The AOT instructs airlines to either roll back to an earlier version of the software or replace the affected elevator aileron computer (ELAC) hardware with one containing the older software version. The maintenance action is expected to take three hours, according to the Airbus advisory.

An Airbus spokeswoman told TAC that it worked proactively with airlines and regulators ahead of the expected emergency airworthiness directive to address the issue. 

The unusual warning from the plane maker comes during one of the busiest holiday travel periods in the United States, setting the stage for widespread disruption.

“Airbus acknowledges these recommendations will lead to operational disruptions to passengers and customers. We apologise for the inconvenience caused and will work closely with operators, while keeping safety as our number one and overriding priority,” Airbus said.

Write to Jon Ostrower at jon@theaircurrent.com