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A solar radiation–linked software flaw in Airbus A320 jets triggers urgent fixeswww.usatoday.com/story/travel/news/2025/11/28/fix-airbus-a320-glitch-solar-radiation/87510648007/
222 sats \ 3 comments \ @k00b 11h flying
"An Airbus A320 aeroplane recently experienced an uncommanded and limited pitch down event. The autopilot remained engaged throughout the event, with a brief and limited loss of altitude, and the rest of the flight was uneventful," EASA's Emergency Airworthiness Directive said.
Airbus put out this press release recently.
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209 sats \ 2 replies \ @ek 11h
Uh-oh, uncommanded pitch down events remind me of Boeing's issues with MCAS on the 737 MAX:
The Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) is a flight stabilizing feature developed by Boeing that became notorious for its role in two fatal accidents of the 737 MAX in 2018 and 2019, which killed all 346 passengers and crew among both flights.
[...]
With the MCAS implemented, new test pilot Ed Wilson said the "MAX wasn't handling well when nearing stalls at low speeds" and recommended MCAS to apply across a broader range of flight conditions. This required the MCAS to function under normal g-forces and, at stalling speeds, deflect the vertical trim more rapidly and to a greater extent—but now it reads a single AoA sensor, creating a single point of failure that allowed false data to trigger MCAS to pitch the nose downward and force the aircraft into a dive.
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44 sats \ 1 reply \ @south_korea_ln 11h
That was my first thought, too.
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81 sats \ 0 replies \ @ek 11h
The duopoly of Boeing and Airbus in the airliner market is wild
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