Flights disrupted as Airbus requests modifications to thousands of planes


Flights disrupted as Airbus requests modifications to thousands of planes

"Safety is our highest priority and easyJet operates its fleet of aircraft in strict compliance with manufacturers guidelines," the airline said.

The Civil Aviation Authority [CAA], the UK's aviation regulator, said "only some UK airlines are affected".

"The requirement will mean the airlines flying these aircraft will in some cases have to change software over the days ahead or remain on the ground from Sunday onwards until the software has been changed," the regulator said.

Giancarlo Buono, director of aviation safety at CAA, added: "Passengers should check with their airline whether their flights are affected. Airlines have a duty of care to look after passengers when a flight is delayed."

The problem affecting the aircraft is that intense solar and cosmic radiation at high altitudes can affect the working of the ELAC computer, which controls the elevators and ailerons. These are aerodynamic surfaces that are used to make the aircraft pitch up or down or roll to turn.

The A320 family are what is known as "fly by wire" planes. This means there is no direct mechanical link between the controls in the cockpit and the parts of the aircraft that actually govern flight. The pilot's actions are interpreted by computers - which actually "fly" the plane.

The manufacturer has issued an alert to airlines, requesting them to take "immediate precautionary action...in order to implement the available software and/or hardware protection and ensure the fleet is safe to fly".

Following Airbus's annoucement, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) confirmed it had also instructed "precautionary action" to some of the global Airbus 320 aircraft fleet.

Previous articleNext article

POPULAR CATEGORY

misc

16616

entertainment

18267

corporate

15347

research

9199

wellness

15045

athletics

19112