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.The Indian response was particularly under scrutiny in view of the ongoing probe into the Ahmedabad air crash. As many as 260 people, including 241 passengers and crew members, had died when a London Gatwick-bound Air India Boeing 787-8 aircraft crashed soon after takeoff on June 12. The incident served as a wake-up call for the Indian civil aviation sector, even as the Supreme Court said recently that the investigation was not meant to “apportion blame” but to unearth what caused the accident, and to safeguard against such tragedies in the future.Airbus’ precautionary move has come in the wake of a probe into the October 30 JetBlue flight incident. At least 15 passengers were injured after a sudden drop in altitude on a flight from Mexico forced an emergency landing in Florida. The bottom line is that there can be no compromise on air safety, even if it causes occasional inconvenience to passengers, crew members and airlines. The focus should be on ensuring transparency and operational coordination. It is vital to prevent erosion of public trust in safe air travel. Timely detection of glitches and proactive course correction can go a long way in keeping flights mishap-free.

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