"It's a very serious glitch," Aviation Expert Harsh Wardhan on Airbus A320 global software issue

New Delhi [India], November 29 (ANI): Amid concerns over safety risks posed by Airbus's software, aviation expert Harshwardhan expressed relief that the glitch was detected, calling it a serious issue that could have led to a major catastrophe if left unnoticed.
The aviation expert also noted that with the upgraded software causing issues in the Airbus A320 fleet, the company is now focusing on reverting to the original version and asserted that the problem will be resolved soon. However, he emphasised the need to closely monitor the aircraft after the modification to observe its behaviour and check for any recurrence of similar issues.
"It's a very serious glitch, and I'm glad it was detected in time, because it could have resulted in a serious catastrophe. It's because the elevator and dial-tone control system, which is showing the problem due to this glitch, controls the aircraft's levelling. Altitude maintenance is performed by this control mechanism. And suddenly, if it becomes uncontrolled, it starts nosediving. And a pilot sometimes doesn't have control over it. Luckily, the incidents that were noticed were rectified on their own; otherwise, anything could have happened," Harsh Wardhan told ANI.
"Given multiple instances, an immediate inspection was necessary. They then realised that it is a fleet problem, not an individual aircraft issue, so grounding is important and the right decision. It should be done as quickly as possible because, apparently, they upgraded the software that is causing this problem and are now reverting to the original version... This issue will be fixed soon, but it will still be monitored because this problem has recently reappeared, and we need to observe how the aircraft continues to behave after the modification if there is any repetition of this nature..." added Harsh Wardhan.
Earlier today, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued an airworthiness directive banning the use of multiple models of Airbus aircraft following concerns about a safety risk posed by the company's software update.
"This is to be ensured that no person shall operation the product which falls under the applicability of this mandoatroy modification except those which are in accordance with the compliance to requirement of Mandatory Modifciation(s)/application Airworthiness Directive(s)," read the order issued Assistant Director (Airworthiness) Nishikant Sharma.
The Airworthiness directive is applicable for multiple other models of Airbus aircraft, including A319-111, A319-112, A319-113, A319-114, A319-115, A319-131, A319-132, A319-133, A319-151N, A319-153N, A319- 171N, A319-173N, A320-211, A320-212, A320-214, A320-215, A320- 216, A320- 231, A320-232, A320-233, A320-251N, A320-252N, A320-253N, A320-271N, A320-272N, A320- 273N, A321-211, A321- 212, A321-213, A321-231, A321-232, A321-251N, A321-252N, A321- 253N, A321-251NX, A321-252NX, A321-253NX, A321-271N, A321- 272N, A321-271NX and A321-272NX.
Following Airbus's directive to immediately repair thousands of aircraft globally from its A320 fleet, multiple airlines in India are experiencing flight disruptions. Around 6,000 aircraft worldwide are expected to be affected. The order followed an incident involving an A320 aircraft, which revealed a potential "solar radiation risk" that could corrupt data critical to flight controls. (ANI)