Airbus inspects panels on ubiquitous A320 passenger jets as it wraps up quick software patch

Airbus is inspecting panels on its bestselling A320 passenger jets after quality control problems surfaced, days after it reported that it was scrambling to fix a separate software problem affecting about 6,000 of the popular planes.

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The European plane maker said Monday that it "identified a supplier quality issue affecting a limited number" of metal panels on the singleaisle A320 aircraft.

"The source of the issue has been identified, contained and all newly produced panels conform to all requirements," Airbus said in a brief statement.

The company said it's taking a conservative approach and inspecting all planes that could potentially be affected by the problem, "knowing that only a portion of them will need further action to be taken."

Airbus sources parts and components from thousands of outside suppliers.

The announcement, coming hours after it said that the software glitch had been mostly resolved with an update, sent the company's shares skidding.