The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has issued an emergency airworthiness directive grounding up to 6,000 Airbus A320-family aircraft worldwide after a potentially dangerous malfunction was traced to the fleet’s Elevator Aileron Computer (ELAC). The action affects roughly half of all A320s in service and requires operators to implement urgent software or hardware fixes before returning the aircraft to operation.
EASA said the directive follows an incident in which an A320 experienced an unexpected, limited pitch-down movement while the autopilot remained engaged. The aircraft lost only a small amount of altitude and completed its flight without further problems, but a preliminary assessment by Airbus pointed to a malfunctioning ELAC as a likely cause. The regulator warned that, without corrective action, the fault could in extreme cases lead to uncommanded elevator movements severe enough to risk exceeding the aircraft’s structural limits, reports agencies.
The grounding was triggered by an event on October 30 involving a JetBlue-operated A320 flying from Cancun to Newark. The aircraft, cruising at 35,000 feet, suddenly pitched nose-down despite no pilot input, resulting in a brief altitude drop before the crew diverted safely to Tampa. Investigators later identified a software-related glitch in the ELAC, a computer responsible for translating pilot commands to the aircraft’s control surfaces.
Following the incident, Airbus urged airlines to take immediate precautionary measures and disclosed that intense solar radiation can corrupt data bits in the ELAC’s updated software, potentially causing unintended control inputs. The manufacturer has directed operators to implement fixes based on aircraft age: older A320 variants will require full ELAC replacements, while newer models will undergo a software update.
A source familiar with the process told AFP that most aircraft can be updated within hours, though roughly 1,000 jets will need work that could extend for weeks. The fixes may lead to temporary schedule disruptions for some carriers.
In India, 113 Air India aircraft and 25 operated by Air India Express are affected. Air India has completed software upgrades on 42 of its aircraft without flight cancellations. Air India Express reported delays to eight flights, and four of its 25 impacted aircraft have been updated so far.
