Finnair airplanes at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport. Photo: Emmi Korhonen / Lehtikuva
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Finnair has confirmed that emergency software updates required for part of its Airbus fleet were completed overnight, following a global alert issued by the aircraft manufacturer. The updates were ordered after a safety concern emerged involving exposure to intense solar radiation.
Airbus announced on Friday that over 6,000 aircraft from its A320 family would need urgent software updates due to a vulnerability discovered after a recent in-flight incident. The affected systems could, under specific conditions, experience data corruption caused by solar activity, potentially disrupting critical flight controls.
According to reports from Reuters, the issue was linked to a flight from Cancún to Newark on 30 October. The aircraft involved lost altitude suddenly due to a flight control system malfunction and later diverted to Florida for an emergency landing. No injuries were reported.
Airbus has said that the software issue required either a return to a previous version of onboard systems or, in some cases, replacement of physical components. The manufacturer apologised for the disruption caused to passengers and airlines.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued a formal airworthiness directive late Friday evening. The directive becomes binding from 01:59 Finnish time on Sunday, meaning that aircraft lacking the required update would be grounded until compliance.
Finnair confirmed that the directive applied to 12 of its 30 narrow-body Airbus aircraft. All 12 aircraft received the necessary updates during the night between Friday and Saturday at Helsinki Airport. The updates were carried out by Finnair Technical Services.
Several other evening flights on Friday experienced delays while the airline awaited formal guidance from aviation safety authorities.
By Saturday morning, Finnair reported that all aircraft were back in service and operating on schedule.
HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
