Airbus has announced that it has identified a potential safety issue affecting a significant number of A320 Family aircraft currently in service. The company’s analysis of a recent incident involving one of these aircraft found that intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls.
In response, Airbus has collaborated with aviation authorities to request immediate precautionary measures from operators. These actions were communicated through an Alert Operators Transmission (AOT), which calls for the implementation of available software and hardware protections to ensure continued flight safety. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is expected to formalize these recommendations in an Emergency Airworthiness Directive.
Airbus acknowledged that these steps could cause operational disruptions for 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,” the company stated.
