Thousands of passenger planes need to be fixed to avoid pilots losing control during a solar storm

Thousands of the most popular passenger aircraft in the world need immediate maintenance to protect from a problem that injured passengers and caused an emergency landing last month.

Airbus found intense solar storms, like solar flares, could cause pilots to lose control of the Airbus A320 series of planes, including A319, A320, and A321s. About 6,000 of the single-aisle planes, which are the bestselling passenger aircraft in the world, need the repairs. Advertisement

“Analysis of a recent event involving an A320 Family aircraft has revealed that intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls,” Airbus said in a statement.

On October 30, JetBlue Flight 1230 - an A320 - was flying from Cancun, Mexico, to Newark, New Jersey, when it suddenly dove