Software Update Complete For All Indian Airbus A320 Aircraft: Civil Aviation Ministry

 

 

New Delhi : The mandatory Emergency Airworthiness Directive(AD) announced by the European Aviation Safety Agency(EASA) following a software issue in the Airbus A320 aircraft has been completed on all affected flights in India, the Union Civil Aviation Ministry said on Sunday.

A total of 338 flights in India had been affected by the issue stemming from an intense solar radiation corrupting data critical to flight controls. After Airbus flagged the software issue, the EASA had asked the airline operators to install a serviceable Elevator Aileron Computer (ELAC) in the impacted aircraft.

 

A spokesperson of the civil aviation ministry here said that the AD announced by the EASA had been completed on all 200 Indigo aircraft. Likewise, the directive has been completed on 100 of 113 Air India aircraft. While four of the Air India aircraft are under base maintained, the directive is not applicable for the rest nine, the spokesperson said.

For Air India Express, the AD has been completed on 23 of 25 aircraft while the other two are under maintenance for re-delivery, the ministry said.

 

The EASA had directed the airlines that the issue should be addressed “before the next flight” to be operated by the impacted aircraft by replacing or modifying the affected ELAC.

Confirming the completion of the mandatory AD, airlines company Indigo said all 200 aircraft have now been fully updated “and compliant as required”. “This programme involved a carefully coordinated sequence of work, with our engineering and operations teams ensuring each aircraft was updated with mandated system upgrade while maintaining stable operations across the network,” it said. The airlines company said that the fleet-wide upgrade with “minimal impact on customers' journeys and zero cancellations” will ensure the latest approved configuration in the aircraft.

 

On Saturday, following the EASA directive, IndiGo said it was working closely with Airbus to ensure implementation as per Airbus notification. “While we carry out the necessary inspections, we are making every effort to minimise disruptions," it said in a statement.

 

Air India too said it had successfully completed the reset on over 90% of its operating A320 family aircraft that were impacted by EASA and Airbus’ requirement for a software realignment.

“We expect to cover the entire fleet within the timeline prescribed by EASA, with safety remaining our top priority. Rising to the occasion, our engineering and ground colleagues worked round the clock to ensure there were no cancellations and that the impact on our schedule integrity across the network was minimal,” an airlines spokesperson said.