Aircraft may begin to behave too independently.
European aircraft manufacturer Airbus has announced that thousands of its produced airplanes will require software, and sometimes hardware, updates due to the fact that powerful solar radiation can distort the data necessary for navigation.
The problem was discovered after an incident involving a Jet Blue A320 aircraft on October 30 in the state of Florida, USA. It began to lose altitude sharply and was forced to make an emergency landing. At least 15 people were injured.
The issue affects the most popular A320 model aircraft, as well as the A318, A319, and A321. In total, this involves about 6000 planes (about half of the global fleet), but for approximately 5100, a relatively simple software update will suffice, which takes about three hours, reported BBC correspondent Theo Leggett.
However, for older aircraft, hardware replacement will be necessary, which will require them to be temporarily taken out of service. Airbus acknowledged that this could disrupt its customers' operations and apologized for it.
The British regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority, stated that these procedures are likely to lead to "individual disruptions and cancellations of flights," although the problem affects "only some" of the British airlines.
Among the airlines that have already acknowledged that they will have to temporarily ground some of their aircraft are Wizz Air, Air India, and Air New Zealand. British Airways, as far as is known through unofficial channels, is unlikely to be significantly affected, reported the BBC correspondent.
EasyJet initially stated that it "expects certain disruptions as a result of this," and will inform passengers directly. A few hours later, the company announced that it had already installed updates on "many" aircraft, and at least on Saturday, they would be flying normally.
American Airlines provided more detailed information: 340 of its aircraft are affected, but the vast majority of updates will be completed within today and tomorrow.
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