Around 6,000 Airbus A320 planes need to urgently replace control software vulnerable to solar radiation after an incident in the United States on a JetBlue plane in late October, a spokesman for the European aerospace company told AFP.

Airbus today informed all its customers using this software to immediately stop flying after analysis of this technical incident revealed that intense solar radiation could have corrupted data essential for the operation of flight control systems.

European Airbus announced today that it has ordered an immediate software change on a large number of its best-selling aircraft, the A320, a measure that will affect, according to industry sources, about 6,000 aircraft or more than 50% of the global fleet.

Airbus has announced that a recent incident on an A320 aircraft has revealed that intense solar radiation can alter critical data for the operation of flight control systems. Airbus acknowledges that these recommendations will lead to operational disruptions for passengers and customers, it stresses.

Airlines affected by the widespread recall of Airbus A320s to fix a software flaw must carry out the work before the next flight, except for any re-positioning flights to a repair base, Airbus said in a memo to airlines seen by Reuters on Monday.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) will issue a directive on emergency airworthiness, according to Airbus.

For about two-thirds of the aircraft affected by the measure, the recall will result in a relatively short grounding as airlines revert to an earlier version of software, according to industry sources.

However, the size of the operation is expected to cause significant disruption, as the matter arises just before the weekend during which most travel of the year takes place in the United States.

The incident that prompted the major repair operation involved a JetBlue Airways plane flying from Cancun, Mexico, to Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey on October 30. Flight 1230 made an emergency landing in Tampa, Florida. Several people were taken to the hospital as the Airbus A320 suddenly lost altitude after experiencing a flight control problem.

According to Airbus data, there are approximately 11,300 A320 family aircraft in operation, of which 6,440 are of the basic A320 model.