Airbus warns many A320 jets may suffer issues from intense solar radiation

European plane‑maker Airbus has issued a warning that dozens — possibly hundreds — of its A320‑family jets could face flight‑control problems after finding that “intense solar radiation” may corrupt critical data in the aircraft’s control systems — a vulnerability discovered after a recent in‑flight incident. According to Airbus, a “significant number” of A320s now in service may be affected. While most of the affected aircraft can be fixed via a software update, a portion may also require more time‑consuming hardware modifications. The safety warning follows a recent in‑flight “pitch‑down” event on an A320, which regulators traced back to flight‑control data corruption likely caused by solar radiation exposure. Though no injuries were reported in that incident, the potential for “uncommanded elevator movements” raised serious structural‑safety concerns. Despite the scale of the recall — roughly half of the global A320 fleet, according to some estimates — major U.S. carriers including American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines say they expect only limited disruption to flight schedules. For now, regulators and airlines are rushing to push out the software and hardware updates before the jets return to service — but the episode underscores how solar activity can pose unexpected risks to the increasingly computerized aircraft that dominate today’s skies. #Airbus #A320 #SolarRadiation #AviationSafety #SlimScan #GrowthStocks #CANSLIM