Delta, American Airlines Respond to 'Urgent' Safety Concern

Delta and American Airlines are among the major air carriers that are responding to an "urgent" safety update relating to Airbus planes after an airplane experienced a "pitch down" event.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency issued the "emergency airworthiness directive" on November 28. The directive is active as of November 29. The agency warned of a possible "worst-case scenario" if the airlines don't modify or replace flight control software.

• "An Airbus A320 aeroplane recently experienced an uncommanded and limited pitch down event," the directive says. "The autopilot remained engaged throughout the event, with a brief and limited loss of altitude, and the rest of the flight was uneventful."
• Reuters reported that the issue involved "a JetBlue flight from Cancun, Mexico, to Newark, New Jersey, on Oct. 30." Several people were injured.
• The Airbus software issue could lead to "widespread global disruption," Reuters reported.

American & Delta Air Lines Both Said They Are Complying With the Emergency Order

Major airlines are already reacting. According to USA Today, there could be cancellations or delays if they aren't able to fix the issue quickly. The issue affects "thousands" of planes, WCVB-TV reported. American Airlines said 340 of its planes need the fix, and Delta identified 50, according to WCVB.

"American began identifying and completing the software update, and we expect the vast majority of aircraft to be complete today and tomorrow," American Airlines told USA Today.

"Though we expect some delays as we accomplish these updates, we are intently focused on limiting cancellations – especially with customers returning home from holiday travel. Still, our overriding priority will always be the safety of our operation. It’s all hands on deck across our airline to address this Airbus software issue and take care of any customers whose flights are affected."

Delta told USA Today that the Airbus issue will only affect a small portion of its fleet. "As safety comes before everything else, Delta will fully comply with a directive and expects any resulting operational impact to be limited," the airline told USA Today.

Airbus Says That 'Intense Solar Radiation' May Have Caused the Issue

According to the European safety agency, "Preliminary technical assessment done by Airbus identified a malfunction of the affected ELAC as possible contributing factor." ELAC refers to the Elevator Aileron Computer that handles flight controls.

According to Airbus, "intense solar radiation" may have caused the issue.

"Analysis of a recent event involving an A320 Family aircraft has revealed that intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls," Airbus wrote in a press release.

"This condition, if not corrected, could lead in the worst-case scenario to an uncommanded elevator movement that may result in exceeding the aircraft’s structural capability," warned the directive, which instructs the airlines to fix the problem.

"This Emergency Airworthiness Directive (AD) is issued by EASA, acting in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 on behalf of the European Union, its Member States and of the European third countries that participate in the activities of EASA under Article 129 of that Regulation," the agency wrote.

According to USA Today, the directive came from the European agency because the Airbus planes are made by a European company, but the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration was expected to follow suit.

In its statement, Airbus wrote, "Airbus has consequently identified a significant number of A320 Family aircraft currently in-service which may be impacted."

"Airbus has worked proactively with the aviation authorities to request immediate precautionary action from operators via an Alert Operators Transmission (AOT) in order to implement the available software and/or hardware protection, and ensure the fleet is safe to fly. This AOT will be reflected in an Emergency Airworthiness Directive from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA)," the company continued.

"Airbus acknowledges these recommendations will lead to operational disruptions to passengers and customers. We apologise for the inconvenience caused and will work closely with operators, while keeping safety as our number one and overriding priority."

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