All airlines have updated their software on A320 family planes: DGCA

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Sunday said that all airlines in India have completed their software upgrades on their active Airbus A320 family aircraft to address the potential issue related to solar radiation affecting flight control data.

 

In a statement, the regulator said a total of 323 A320 family planes of IndiGo, Air India and Air India Express, which are ‘operational’, have been upgraded.

 

“Two hundred out of 200 IndiGo planes, 100 out of 113 Air India planes and 23 out of 25 Air India Express planes have completed their modification. Air India’s four planes are in base maintenance and nine planes do not need any modification. Two Air India Express planes are under maintenance as they will be redelivered to lessors,” an official mentioned. This means that the entire operational fleet of A320 family planes in India has been upgraded.

 

After analysing an incident involving an A320 family plane, the Airbus on Friday stated that intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls.

 

The issue is inside the aircraft’s flight-control computer, called Elevator and Aileron Computer (ELAC). During very strong solar activity -- like solar flares -- this computer can briefly malfunction. When that happens, the data it sends to the parts of the plane that make it go up or down, or tilt left or right, can get corrupted. This can momentarily affect how the aircraft changes height or makes turns.

 

After Airbus’s statement, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) had released an Emergency Airworthiness Directive on the potential issue. Then, on Saturday, the DGCA had issued an Airworthiness Directive instructing Indian airlines to carry out the required software upgrades immediately.

 

In a statement on X on Sunday, Air India Express said that it has completed “the precautionary safety checks across its A320 fleet within the required timelines”, ensuring minimal disruption to flight operations. This timely completion was made possible through the close coordination of the airline’s engineering, operations and flight safety teams, working alongside Airbus and regulatory authorities, it added.