All airlines have completed the software upgrades on their active Airbus A320 family aircraft to address potential issues related to solar radiation affecting flight-control data, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said on Sunday.
In a statement, the regulator said that a total of 323 operational A320-family aircraft belonging to IndiGo, Air India, and Air India Express have been upgraded.
Fleet Compliance and Carrier-Specific Completion Status
“IndiGo has completed modifications on all 200 of its 200 aircraft. Air India has upgraded 100 of its 113 aircraft, with four currently in base maintenance and nine not requiring any modification.
Air India Express has completed work on 23 of its 25 aircraft, while the remaining two are under maintenance as they are scheduled to be redelivered to lessors,” DGCA said.
The DGCA on Saturday ordered upgrades after Airbus, while assessing an incident involving an A320-family aircraft, on Friday cautioned that intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls.
In a statement on X on Sunday, Air India Express said it had completed the precautionary safety checks across its A320 fleet within the required timelines, ensuring minimal disruption to operations.
IndiGo stated that it had finished the mandatory Airbus system enhancement across its A320-family fleet, with all 200 aircraft now fully updated and compliant. “With the completion of this technical requirement, every aircraft now operates with the latest approved configuration, and we continue to monitor performance closely as part of our routine safety procedures,” Indigo said. The DGCA’s directive followed the European Union Aviation Safety Agency’s (EASA) emergency airworthiness directive issued on Friday, which temporarily grounded up to 6,000 Airbus A320 aircraft worldwide until critical flight-control fixes are completed. In India, the directive covered 338 aircraft, all belonging to IndiGo, Air India, and Air India Express.
Akasa Air and SpiceJet were unaffected, as they do not operate Airbus A320 aircraft.
Technical Issue
The issue lay within the aircraft’s flight-control computer, known as the Elevator and Aileron Computer (ELAC). During periods of intense solar activity, such as solar flares, this computer can briefly malfunction. When this occurs, the data it sends to the components that control the aircraft’s pitch and roll may become corrupted, potentially causing momentary effects on how the aircraft climbs, descends, or turns.
In a statement on X on late Saturday, Air India had said it has 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,” Air India said.