European plane maker, Airbus, has announced that it will be withdrawing over 6,000 of its A320-family aircraft. This development may lead to major flight disruptions globally.
The manufacturer requested the immediate withdrawal of the aircraft for urgent modifications.
According to Reuters, the move comes after the aircraft maker recently discovered that intense radiation from the sun could corrupt data crucial to flight control.
Airbus users in Nigeria said the recall would not affect the class and modification of the Airbus series they operate.
By the figure 6,000, the planes expected to be urgently returned to the manufacturer represent about half of Airbus’s global fleet.
Though information gathered online indicate that some of the aircraft will only undergo a brief software update.
In Nigeria, Ibom Air operates an Airbus A220-300, which is not part of the A320-family.
The disruption falls on a major holiday weekend in the US, which is home to four of the biggest A320 model operators: American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue, and United Airlines.
The issue was discovered after a JetBlue aircraft en route to the United States from Mexico experienced a “sudden drop in altitude.”
Disruption at UK airports has been fairly limited so far, though several airlines around the world have reported cancellations.
However, checks showed that from current Nigerian fleet data, the only significant Airbus operators in scheduled service are United Nigeria Airlines and Ibom Air, while Green Africa, Air Peace, Arik, Overland, and United Nigeria focus on Boeing, Embraer, ATR, Bombardier, or regional jets.
Airbus has previously issued or discussed radiation-related software mitigations mainly in relation to newer fly-by-wire families (A320neo, A330neo, A350), so in the Nigerian context, the A220s may not be a relevant type, except if the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority advises otherwise.
Former Qantas captain who holds a PhD in cosmic and solar radiation in aviation, Ian Getley, told BBC News that flights can be affected by coronal mass ejections, which occur when plasma is ejected from the Sun into space.
He said, “The higher the severity of the CME, the more likely it is that issues could arise with satellites and aircraft electronics above 28,000 ft. These create more charged particles in the upper atmosphere, which in turn can interfere with aircraft electronics,” he added.
Contacted, United Nigeria Airlines spokesperson, Chibuike Uloka, confirmed the airline flies an Airbus A320 but added that their aircraft will not be returned because the specification was not listed among the affected aircraft.
He said, “You know we are part of an airline that is very strict on safety. This speculation has been on for a while, and we have taken care of it by ensuring that our specification will not be affected when the issues call for attention. Ours is not included in the ones that have been recalled.”
Ibom Air spokesperson, Annie Essienette, also confirmed that the airline has an Airbus in its fleet, but it does not fall within the generation the maker is recalling.
“Ours is an A220. It is the latest one and it is not part of the ones expected to be taken back to their factory.”
Efforts to speak with the spokesperson of the NCAA, Michael Achimugu, were unsuccessful as calls put across to him were not picked up, nor did he respond to messages on the development.
