DGCA issues safety directive for Airbus aircraft amid key software update

New Delhi, Nov 29 The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Saturday released a mandatory safety directive for Airbus A318, A319, A320 and A321 aircraft, saying that no aircraft will continue in service without meeting the required safety standards.

Airbus has said an analysis of a recent event involving an A320 aircraft showed that “intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls,” prompting a global alert for precautionary action. The aviation company has announced a software update to address a potential safety risk linked to intense solar radiation affecting flight-control data in the aircraft.

In a notification, DGCA has instructed operators to update their compliance records accordingly.

“Inspection and/or modification on the following subject is mandatory. Please make necessary amendment in the below-mentioned Mandatory Modification List,” said the aviation regulator.

“This is to be ensured that no person shall operate the product which falls under the applicability of this Mandatory Modification except those which are in accordance with the compliance to requirement of Mandatory Modification(s) and applicable Airworthiness Directive(s),” it added.

No aircraft continues in service without meeting the required safety standards, according to the regulator.

IndiGo and the Air India together use more than 350 aircraft in this category. The aircraft in India will need to be grounded briefly to install the software fix, a process that is expected to cause operational disruptions.

The Airbus software update will take two to three days, and airlines expect flights to resume normal schedules by Monday or Tuesday, according to sources.

Airbus said it has identified a “significant number of A320 family aircraft currently in-service which may be impacted.” Newer aircraft can receive the update within approximately half an hour through a loading facility. Older A320s need additional hardware changes, which will increase turnaround time.

Globally, around 6,000 A320 aircraft will require software updates.

Meanwhile, Air India issued a statement that its engineers are "working round-the-clock to complete the software and hardware realignment on A320 family aircraft worldwide".

"At Air India, safety is top priority. Following EASA and Airbus directives for a mandatory software and hardware realignment on A320 family aircraft worldwide, our engineers have been working round-the-clock to complete the task at the earliest," Air India said in a post on social media platform X.

"We have already completed the reset on over 40 per cent of our aircraft that are impacted by this, and are confident of covering the entire fleet within the timeline prescribed by EASA," it added.

The airline also noted that there "have been no cancellations due to this task and there isn't any major impact on schedule integrity across our network".

"However, some of our flights may be slightly delayed or rescheduled. Our colleagues on ground are there to assist the passengers," it stated.

The company also requested passengers to check "the latest flight status" on its website or "connect with our contact centre at 011-69329333, 011-69329999 before heading to the airport".

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