Airbus alert: Timely action holds the key to flight safety

THE worldwide Airbus alert over a software glitch in the A320-family aircraft has underlined the vulnerability of the civil aviation ecosystem, both globally as well as in India. The problem, which threatened to corrupt flight-control data under intense solar radiation, led to a scramble among aviation authorities around the world to prevent or curb disruptions. India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation promptly issued an Airworthiness Directive and ordered immediate software upgrade/update among 330-odd India-registered A320 planes. IndiGo, which operates the country’s largest A320 fleet, speedily conducted the exercise; so did Air India and Air India Express, keeping flight delays to a minimum.