• Source:JND
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Europe’s Airbus has mandated immediate repairs to 6,000 of its widely used A320 family aircraft, following a software issue that affects over half the global fleet. The directive comes during one of the busiest travel weekends of the year, with the holiday season approaching, resulting in widespread disruption.

Flight operations worldwide have been impacted after Airbus called for a significant software fix for its A320 family of jets. In response, India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued an airworthiness directive, grounding several models of Airbus aircraft due to concerns over the safety implications of the software update.

As per the DGCA, there are currently 338 A320-family aircraft in operation across India. These include the A320ceo, A320neo, A321ceo, and A321neo variants, flown by major airlines such as IndiGo, Air India, and Air India Express. The DGCA noted that 55 per cent of these aircraft have already undergone the required flight control software update.

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Airbus Issues Major A320 Recall: What Happened?

- Airbus explained that a recent incident revealed that solar flares could potentially corrupt critical flight control data. According to Reuters citing sources close to the industry confirmed that the incident leading to the unexpected repair order involved a JetBlue flight travelling from Cancun, Mexico, to Newark, New Jersey, on October 30. During this flight, several passengers were injured after a sharp loss of altitude.

- The A320 jet was forced to make an emergency landing in Tampa, Florida, after experiencing a flight control issue and an uncommanded drop in altitude, prompting an investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Neither JetBlue nor the FAA commented on the recall.

- On Friday, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued an emergency directive making the fix mandatory.

- This setback is one of the largest recalls in Airbus's 55-year history and follows closely on the heels of the A320 overtaking the Boeing 737 as the world’s most delivered aircraft. When Airbus issued the bulletin to over 350 operators, approximately 3,000 A320-family jets were already in the air.

- The fix mainly involves reverting to earlier software and is relatively simple, but must be carried out before the planes can fly again, other than repositioning to repair centres, according to the bulletin to airlines seen by Reuters.

- Airlines from the US, South America, Europe, India, and New Zealand have warned that these repairs may cause flight delays or cancellations. However, it is expected that most fixes will be completed by Saturday.

- An Airbus spokesperson confirmed that approximately 6,000 aircraft will be impacted by the repairs, adding that some aircraft may face extended groundings as more than 1,000 affected jets could also require hardware replacements.

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DGCA Grounds A320 Family of Aircraft Amid Airbus Software Update Alert

- The DGCA has issued an airworthiness directive banning the operation of several Airbus aircraft models due to safety concerns over the software update.

"The operator is required to ensure that no aircraft covered by this directive shall be operated unless the mandatory modification or airworthiness directive has been complied with," said the order, issued by Assistant Director (Airworthiness) Nishikant Sharma.

- The directive applies to a broad range of Airbus models, including A319-111, A319-112, A320-211, A320-212, A321-211, A321-231, A321-251N, and many others.

- This has disrupt air travel across various routes in India, with domestic carriers Air India and IndiGo announcing possible delays and schedule changes due to the technical directive issued by Airbus for the global A320 fleet.

- Air India confirmed the issue on social media platform X, acknowledging its awareness of the Airbus directive affecting A320 aircraft in service across its fleet. The airline noted that the required update would involve both software and hardware adjustments.

- IndiGo also stated that it is collaborating closely with Airbus to implement the mandated updates to ensure the safety of its A320 fleet.

How Many Flights in India Are Affected?

A significant portion of the fleets of IndiGo, Air India, and Air India Express have been impacted by the directive. According to reports from Hindustan Times, the directive affects:

- 200 IndiGo aircraft

- 113 Air India aircraft

- 25 Air India Express aircraft

Of these, 113 IndiGo planes, 42 Air India aircraft, and four Air India Express planes have already received the update. The remaining aircraft are still undergoing the necessary upgrades.

The upgrades are being carried out at major airline hubs in Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, and Kolkata.

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