(Source: Airbus)
NEW DELHI: Software rolled back, solar-storm threat neutralised. Indian operators of Airbus A320 jets – IndiGo, Air India and Air India Express – finished reverting flight-control computers to a safer 2022 version in just over a day, heading off widespread groundings feared after the manufacturer raised red flags late Friday.DGCA was informed early Sunday that 323 aircraft had received the required “downgrade” to an earlier edition of the elevator and aileron computer (ELAC). Airbus had found that a later software upgrade could trigger sudden loss of control during intense solar storms – a failure linked to a US carrier’s A320 that plunged abruptly on Oct 30, injuring 15 passengers.IndiGo completed the task across all 200 affected aircraft. Air India carried out the fix on 100 – nine jets were later assessed as not needing the rollback and four were already in base maintenance. AI Express finished updates on 23 of 25, with two under redelivery maintenance.Carriers escaped major disruption – only single-digit cancellations and delays of up to 90 minutes – thanks to IndiGo’s young A320 fleet and the AI Group’s limited number of older airframes. Older aircraft require hardware modifications alongside the software rollback, expanding task time. Globally, fallout was heavier. Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury apologised for the turmoil but insisted urgency was essential. “The fix required on some A320 aircraft has been causing significant logistical challenges and delays… But we consider that nothing is more important than safety,” he wrote on X, adding that Airbus teams were working “around the clock” to help airlines get aircraft flying again.
