What Are Solar Flares? How Do They Impact Aircraft Navigational Systems?

• These explosions heat material to many millions of degrees in a few minutes, producing a burst of radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum, from radio waves to X-rays.
• The electromagnetic radiation from solar flares has a significant impact on the ionosphere, the upper, charged layer of Earth's atmosphere, and on radio communications.
• Investigators found that solar flares likely affected the Elevator Aileron Computer (ELAC) on an Airbus aircraft in October, which helps execute altitude change maneuvers.

Airlines around the world had to upgrade software on thousands of Airbus A320-series aircraft over the weekend to address a critical issue exposed by intense solar radiation.

On Friday, the planemaker warned that “a recent event involving an A320
Family aircraft has revealed that intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls.” The planemaker was referring to an incident with the JetBlue Flight 1230, traveling from Mexico to New Jersey, on Oct. 30, 2025. The aircraft experienced a sudden drop off in altitude, forcing the pilots to make an emergency landing in Tampa, Florida.

What Are Solar Flares?

According to the European Space Agency, a solar flare is a large explosion on the Sun that takes place when energy stored in 'twisted' magnetic fields, usually above sunspots, is suddenly released. These explosions heat material to many millions of degrees in a few minutes, producing a burst of radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum, from radio waves to X-rays and gamma rays.

Separately, the Sun also emits large amounts of solar material in the form of 'coronal mass ejections' (CMEs). Often triggered by solar flares, these are massive bubbles of plasma, or charged particles, filled with magnetic field lines. Solar flares are usually accompanied by CMEs; however, they can also be observed on their own.

The electromagnetic radiation from solar flares has a significant impact on the ionosphere, the upper, charged layer of Earth's atmosphere, and on radio communications. When the CME reaches the Earth, it could potentially deform Earth’s protective magnetic field and cause a geomagnetic storm, affect satellites, disrupt navigation systems, and cause grid outages.

What Happened To The Airbus Aircraft?.

Investigators found that solar flares likely affected the Elevator Aileron Computer (ELAC) on the Airbus aircraft, which helps execute altitude change maneuvers. While the autopilot changed the trajectory of the flight, regulators found risks to over 6,000 aircraft, more than half of the entire fleet of A320 aircraft in operations.

According to a Reuters News report, airlines were asked to fix the issue by reverting to an older version of the software that handles the nose angle. In most cases, implementing the changes took about 2 hours, leading to slight delays for some airlines in the U.S. and other parts of the world.

The recall, the largest in Airbus history, once again put safety in commercial aviation in the spotlight. Retail sentiment on Stocktwits about the planemaker’s American rival, Boeing, was in the ‘bullish’ territory at the time of writing.  

Also See: GameStop’s Meme Magic Fades In A Year Without ‘Roaring Kitty’ — But Retail Traders Feel There’s A Plot Twist Around The Corner

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