Global travel is to be disrupted following an announcement by Airbus on major software change on a significant number of Airbus A320 jets.
Airbus said in a statement a recent incident involving an A320-family aircraft had revealed that intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls. Reuters News Agency reports.
“The bulletin seen by Reuters traced the problem to a flight system called ELAC (Elevator and Aileron Computer), which sends commands from the pilot’s side-stick to elevators at the rear. These in turn control the aircraft’s pitch or nose angle.” The news agency noted.
There are around 11,300 A320-family aircraft in operation, including 6,440 of the core A320 model, which first flew in 1987, according to Reuters News Agency.
Airbus said it acknowledged this will lead to “operational disruption to passengers and customers”, and has apologised