Airbus 320 alert over glitch causing nose-down dip hits global services

Air travel across the world was thrown into turmoil this weekend after Airbus ordered an emergency recall of nearly 6,000 A320-family aircraft, including 338 jets operated by Air India, IndiGo and Air India Express in the country, over a dangerous flight-control flaw that could trigger an unexpected nose-down dip.

The unprecedented move has rattled airlines during one of the busiest global travel periods. Airbus said intense solar radiation had been found to corrupt data inside the Elevator Aileron Computer, a system that controls the pitch of the aircraft. The warning came after a JetBlue A320 suddenly dipped for seven seconds on October 30, injuring more than 15 people on board. Regulators across the world, including India, immediately made the software fix compulsory before the aircraft could return to service.

Indian carriers carry out fixes overnight

* Airbus orders emergency recall of 6,000 aircraft worldwide

* 338 of these operated by Air India, IndiGo, Air India Express; fixes carried out overnight

* Airbus said intense solar radiation found to corrupt data inside the system that controls the pitch of the aircraft

* Warning came as a JetBlue A320 suddenly dipped for 7 seconds, injuring 15 aboard

India’s aviation watchdog DGCA said that till 5.30 pm on Saturday, 270 of the 338 affected aircraft had already been upgraded, with all fixes due by 5.29 am on November 30. IndiGo had 200 aircraft requiring the update and all have been repaired, Air India had 113 affected aircraft and completed work on 69 and Air India Express has upgraded 17 of 25 planes. While no cancellations were reported, passengers across major airports faced 60 to 90-minute delays as the aircraft were moved through maintenance bays.

The global impact has been far more severe. Air France cancelled 35 flights. ANA grounded 65 services. Avianca, with more than 70 per cent of its fleet hit, warned of severe disruption for at least 10 days and stopped ticket sales till December 8. American Airlines projected delays, Lufthansa, Latam, Korean Air, flynas, Viva and others flagged operational strain. Wizz Air said it completed all updates overnight.

“The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued an emergency airworthiness directive on November 28 addressing the issue. Based on the Airbus “alert operators transmission” (AOT) and EASA emergency AD, the DGCA has issued a mandatory modification on November 29 to notify

the Indian aircraft operators prescribing the mandatory actions required for the continued safe operation of

the aircraft,” said the aviation regulator.

Following the DGCA’s directive, the Indian carriers started working simultaneously across Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Kolkata to rectify the issue and meet the deadline.

Airbus acknowledged the “major disruption” caused by the global fixes and said teams were deployed across continents to support operators. CEO Guillaume Faury apologised for the upheaval, saying the upgrade drive was being executed at maximum speed without compromising safety. Most affected jets need software upgrades, while some may also require hardware checks.

The A320 family, with more than 8,100 aircraft in service globally, forms the backbone of short-haul flying. The sudden recall has, therefore, hit global schedules sharply, especially in the US where the holiday weekend has seen system-wide delays.

Indian airlines said schedule integrity remained largely intact despite the massive engineering volume. IndiGo and Air India reported no cancellations, though some flights were delayed or rescheduled. Air India Express said almost its entire fleet was already compliant and the remaining aircraft would be cleared well within the advised window. The airline said that safety and engineering teams were working in coordination with Airbus and regulators.