Is a Four Year Prescription a Bandaid for the Airbus Glass Cockpit? Not Shatterproof

According to the NTSB, “on January 25, 2008, a United Airbus A320, registration N462UA, experienced multiple avionics and electrical failures, including loss of all communications, shortly after rotation while departing Newark Liberty International Airport, Newark (EWR), New Jersey. The flight returned for landing at EWR and electrical power was restored to the cockpit after landing when the flight crew selected the AC Essential Bus button. There were no injuries to the 107 passengers and crew aboard the airplane and no damage to the airplane. The airplane was operating under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121 and was a regularly scheduled passenger flight to Denver International Airport, Denver, Colorado.”

Note that this was a glass cockpit. (A glass cockpit has digital instrument displays rather than analog.)

In case of electrical failure, new Airbus models have backup systems and backups for the backups for their glass cockpits, but 50 episodes of multiple electrical failure have been recorded in the Airbus A320 (A318, A319, A320 and A321) according to AP. Obviously not all Airbus models are new.

In 2009, the EU issued an order giving airlines four years to make the fixes so that pilots don’t end up losing all their electrical systems. The FAA issued the order in 2010. France reported 48 failures of 5 of 6 displays in 2008.

The NTSB has suggested to the FAA that the optional fix be mandatory, but currentlyAirlines are not required to tell the Federal Aviation Administration when the repairs are made, and they can’t afford to automatically immediately ground planes when a bulletin is issued. Is this safety Russian-Roulette style?