Airlines In India Work On A-320 Fix After EU Agency's Critical Alert

Hundreds of Airbus aircraft flown by Air India and IndiGo were affected by an emergency airworthiness directive issued by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The airlines will ensure full compliance of the mandatory checks by the end of the day, and no flights are likely to be cancelled, sources said. Any flight delay due to this issue will remain under 30 minutes, they said.

The emergency airworthiness directive (EAD) temporarily grounds up to 6,000 Airbus A320-family aircraft globally until critical flight control fixes are made.

The civil aviation regulator DGCA in a 'mandatory modification' notice marked 'most urgent' to all airlines said they must check and replace what's technically called 'ATA 27' with flight controls and elevator aileron computer.

The affected Airbus aircraft are of the series A318, A319, A320, A321/5.

Air India in a statement said their engineers have been working round-the-clock to complete the task at the earliest.

"We have already completed the reset on over 40 per cent of our aircraft that are impacted by this, and are confident of covering the entire fleet within the timeline prescribed by EASA," it said.

Air India said there have been no flight cancellations due to this task and there isn't any major impact on schedule integrity across its network.

IndiGo said it is working closely with Airbus to ensure implementation as per the notification.

"While we carry out the necessary inspections, we are making every effort to minimise disruptions. We regret any inconvenience this unforeseen situation may cause to our customers and appreciate their understanding. IndiGo is committed to the safety of its customers and staff, and treats safety as its topmost priority," an IndiGo spokesperson said.

What Triggered Alert

The trigger of the EASA alert was a midair incident last month on a flight from Cancun to Newark, when an A-320 cruising at 35,000 feet suddenly pitched nose-down without pilot input, causing a brief but harrowing drop in altitude. The plane diverted safely to Tampa.

Investigators zeroed in on a glitch in the elevator aileron computer or ELAC, a key system that translates pilot commands to the wings and tail.

Airbus' investigation revealed a stunning culprit - intense solar radiation can corrupt the ELAC's freshly updated software, impacting critical data bits and risking uncommanded manoeuvres that could overload the plane's structure.

Airbus said aircraft that have the faulty computer installed must replace it with a newer, safe model, called ELAC L103 plus, before their next flight. A short ferry flight of maximum three flights without passengers is allowed only to move the aircraft to a repair location.