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

LONDON (AP) – 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.

The European planemaker said Monday that it “identified a supplier quality issue affecting a limited number” of metal panels on the single-aisle 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.

Airbus had said earlier Monday that most of its fleet of 6,000 A320 passenger jets have received an update to fix a software glitch that could have affected flight controls.

Travelers had faced minor disruptions heading into the weekend as airlines around the world scrambled to push the software updates out to the widely used commercial jetliner. Airbus warned of the problem Friday with U.S. millions of passengers in transit for the Thanksgiving holiday, the busiest travel time in the United States.

The European planemaker said in its update that the “vast majority” of the short-haul passenger jets in service “have now received the necessary modifications.”

“We are working with our airline customers to support the modification of less than 100 remaining aircraft to ensure they can be returned to service,” Toulouse, France-based Airbus said.

“Airbus apologises for any challenges and delays caused to passengers and airlines by this event,” it said.

Airbus said it discovered that “intense solar radiation” could corrupt data that’s critical to the functioning of flight controls.

The problem is suspected of contributing to a sudden drop in altitude of a JetBlue planefrom Cancun, Mexico, to Newark, New Jersey on Oct. 30, that injured at least 15 passengers, some of them transported to hospitals for medical care.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency required airlines to address the issue with the software update. More than 500 U.S.-registered aircraft were impacted, including jets flown by American Airlines and Delta.

Japan’s All Nippon Airways, Air India and Germany’s Lufthansa were also affected. The Airbus A320 family of single-aisle aircraft is the primary competitor to Boeing’s 737.