The European Union Safety Agency (EASA) on Friday issued an emergency airworthiness directive that temporarily grounds up to 6,000 Airbus A320 aircraft worldwide until critical flight control fixes are made. This means that half of the global fleet of the world's best-selling airliner could be sidelined until there is a software or a hardware fix.
In a statement, the EASA said, "An Airbus A320 aeroplane recently experienced an uncommanded and limited pitch-down event. The autopilot remained engaged throughout the event, with a brief and limited loss of altitude, and the rest of the flight was uneventful."
The EASA added that a preliminary technical assessment done by Airbus identified a malfunction of the affected Elevator Aileron Computer (ELAC) as the possible contributing factor.
READ: Airlines In India Work On A-320 Fix After EU Agency's Critical Alert
"This condition, if not corrected, could lead in the worst-case scenario to an uncommanded elevator movement that may result in exceeding the aircraft's structural capability," the European Union's safety agency further said.
What Triggered The Software Upgrade?
On October 30, a JetBlue-operated A320 aircraft travelling from Cancun in Mexico and Newark in the United States encountered an in-flight control issue due to a computer malfunction.
The 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 ELAC- a key system that translates pilot commands to the wings and tail.
After evaluating the technical malfunction on the October 30 flight, Airbus instructed its clients to take "immediate precautionary action."
READ: Air India Crash: 'Can't Blame Pilot', Top Court Says. Theories Point To...
The multinational European aircraft manufacturer also revealed that 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.
How Will The Upgrade Be Done?
The nature of the software upgrade depends on the variants of the A320. The older variants of the aircraft will require replacement of their ELAC computer, but newer ones will need a software update.
A source close to the matter told the news agency AFP that replacing the software on most aircraft will take a few hours, but for some 1,000 aircraft, the process "will take weeks."
Fixing the problem could lead to flight delays depending on the routes the aircraft are deployed on.
Indian Airlines Told To Fix Problem
Following an alert by the EASA, India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) ordered Indian airlines to fix the problem before they operate the A320s in their fleet. Two hundred aircraft of Indigo will be affected by the software upgrade. However, no flights were delayed. Moreover, of the total affected 200 aircraft, the software upgrade has already been done on 160.
#UPDATE
— Air India (@airindia) November 29, 2025
At Air India, safety is top priority. Following EASA and Airbus directives for a mandatory software and hardware realignment on A320 family aircraft worldwide, our engineers have been working round-the-clock to complete the task at the earliest. We have already completed…
As many as 113 aircraft of Air India and 25 of Air India Express have been impacted. Air India, whose flights were not cancelled, has completed the software upgrade on 42 aircraft. On the other hand, eight flights of Air India Express were delayed, and the software has been upgraded on four of the 25 aircraft impacted.
The entire upgrading process for all three airlines will be completed by Sunday evening.
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