Explained: The Airbus A320 Malfunction That's Causing A Global Flight Disruption
In its directive, EASA confirmed that it had identified specific "ELAC B L104" units as the source of the vulnerability.
The aviation world was rocked by news of an emergency safety directive from European regulators regarding a critical control malfunction in Airbus A320 family aircraft.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued the global mandate, which is set to affect over 6,000 planes worldwide. This comes after investigations linked a fault in the Elevator and Aileron Computer (ELAC) to an October incident where a JetBlue aircraft experienced an uncommanded drop in altitude.
In line with the directive, Indian airliners Air India and Indigo confirmed some of their flights could be impacted as they look to comply with the mandate.
What's Causing All The Turbulence?
The global flight disruption stems from a critical malfunction identified in the Elevator Aileron Computer (ELAC).
ELAC is a key component in the flight control system of the Airbus A320 model of aircraft.
In its directive, EASA confirmed that it had identified specific "ELAC B L104" units as the source of the vulnerability.
According to the directive, the malfunction can cause "uncommanded and limited pitch down events". The ramifications of this could be severe as it could lead to aircraft's nose dipping unexpectedly, potentially compromising the plane's structural integrity if the elevator movement becomes excessive.
The aggressive regulatory directive comes after a recent incident where an A320 experienced such a sudden, uncommanded loss of altitude during the autopilot stage.
A technical assessment done by Airbus had pinpointed ELAC as the source of the vulnerability. The said investigations have linked the data corruption within these flight computers to intense solar radiation, which can interfere with the unit's critical calculations.
In order to resolve the problem, the directive mandates the replacement of the affected units with a serviceable "ELAC B L103+" version or the application of specific software modifications.
EASA has furthed stated in order for an A320 to resume operations, the airline must replace the ELAC module and those running the older hardware must get removed from commercial service immediately.
