Airbus safety: ‘no need to panic’

RECALLED: ABOUT HALF OF THE GLOBAL ACTIVE FLEET

- Hein Kaiser

French and European aircraft maker Airbus this weekend initiated what may become the largest aircraft recall in commercial aviation history.

Some 6 000 A320 family aircraft are temporarily withdrawn from passenger service.

That represents about half of the global active fleet. The trigger was a finding that intense solar radiation could corrupt data used by flight control computers under certain conditions.

In South Africa, there are two carriers that operate the Airbus A320, South African Airways (SAA) and Lift Airlines.

The flag carrier said that it moved early to comply. A statement by the airline said two of its 14 A320s required the update.

SAA technical airline spokesperson Vimla Maistry said they were busy rectifying the glitch within hours of receiving the Airbus notice.

The airline’s chief executive, John Lamola, said he does not anticipate service interruption.

"We have taken immediate and proactive measures to ensure full compliance with the directive," he said, adding the directive’s changes were completed on Saturday.