《精選》淺談空中巴士於 2025 年 11 月底大規模要求 A320 機型進行飛航軟體更新的事件 A Brief Overview of Airbus Requiring a Large-Scale A320 Software Update in Late November 2025

2025 年 10 月，一架美國捷藍航空（JetBlue）的 A320 客機在巡航飛行時，出現飛機自動俯仰的異常情況，隨即引起相關單位關注並展開調查。空中巴士在分析後指出，當時可能遇到強烈的太陽輻射活動，高能粒子影響了飛機上部分飛行控制電腦對資料的處理，進而對飛控系統造成干擾。

基於飛航安全考量，空中巴士於 2025 年 11 月底 向全球航空公司發布預防性措施，要求約 6,000 架 A320 家族機型進行飛航軟體更新，包含修補問題或回復到較穩定的舊版軟體，同時也由各國航空監管單位發布緊急適航指令（Emergency AD）配合執行。

這起事件主要與 A320 系列中，負責部分飛行控制功能的機載電腦及其軟體版本有關。在特定軟體版本下，若同時遇到高能量的太陽粒子（例如太陽耀斑所產生的粒子），飛航資料有可能受到干擾或被錯誤解讀，導致飛控系統出現非預期的反應，例如突然的俯仰或滾轉指令。

太陽在活躍時，會向太空釋放大量高能粒子。飛機在高空飛行時，這些粒子有機會影響機上電子設備。這類風險在航太工程中早已被認知，但發生機率相當低。本次事件中，空中巴士認為「強烈太陽輻射環境」可能是造成軟體運作異常的因素之一。

此事件處理方式是，將問題軟體回退到先前較穩定的版本，或安裝經空中巴士確認的修正版本。更新作業通常由維修技術人員，透過專用的資料載入設備（Data Loader）在飛機上執行，每架飛機約需數小時完成。雖然單架作業並不複雜，但在短時間內同時更新大量飛機，仍難免對全球航班調度造成影響。

現代飛機高度仰賴軟體與電子系統，這次事件也讓航空產業再次正視太空天氣風險。未來不論是飛機製造商、零組件供應商，或航空監管單位，勢必會更加重視在不同太陽活動條件下的系統韌性測試，以及飛航軟體版本管理與驗證流程。

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A Brief Overview of Airbus Requiring a Large-Scale A320 Software Update in Late November 2025

In October 2025, an Airbus A320 operated by JetBlue experienced an unexpected automatic pitch movement while cruising. This incident drew attention from aviation authorities and led to an investigation. After analysis, Airbus stated that the aircraft may have encountered strong solar radiation activity, during which high-energy particles interfered with how some flight control computers processed data, affecting the flight control system.

For safety reasons, Airbus issued a preventive notice in late November 2025 to airlines worldwide. Around 6,000 A320 family aircraft were required to receive a flight software update. This included fixing the affected software or rolling back to a more stable previous version. Aviation authorities in different countries also issued Emergency Airworthiness Directives (Emergency ADs) to support and enforce this action.

The issue was related to onboard computers in the A320 family that handle certain flight control functions and their software versions. Under specific software conditions, combined with exposure to high-energy solar particles (such as those produced by solar flares), flight data could be disrupted or misread. This could cause unexpected flight control responses, such as sudden pitch or roll movements.

When the sun becomes highly active, it releases large amounts of high-energy particles into space. At cruising altitude, aircraft may be exposed to these particles, which can affect onboard electronic systems. This type of risk is well known in aerospace engineering, but it is considered rare. In this case, Airbus identified strong solar radiation conditions as one possible factor contributing to the software anomaly.

The solution involved either rolling back the affected software to a previously stable version or installing a verified fix provided by Airbus. The update process was carried out by maintenance engineers using specialized equipment known as a data loader, and each aircraft required several hours to complete the update.

While the procedure itself was relatively straightforward, performing updates on a large number of aircraft within a short period caused unavoidable disruptions to global flight schedules.

Modern aircraft rely heavily on software and electronic systems. This event has once again highlighted the importance of managing space weather risks in aviation. Going forward, aircraft manufacturers, suppliers, and aviation authorities are expected to place greater emphasis on system resilience under different solar activity conditions, as well as stronger control and validation of flight software versions.