Airbus is drafting global safety warnings on electrical issues with some of its planes.

Airport news for Flights,Travel on 15/11/2010.

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Airbus is preparing to issue global warnings about the risk of electrical problems on some models of its jet aircraft. The company is in the middle of investigating a problem that had a temporary affect on the cockpit displays and the computer controls of a BMI jet flying from Khartoum in Sudan to Beirut, Lebanon in August.

Pilots of the Airbus A321 were able to rely on the plane’s standby instruments, which continued to operate normally. By the time pilots recovered full control the jet, it was 20 miles off-course.

The crew of the jet, which was carrying 49 people and flying at an altitude of 36,000 feet, said they were hit with a stream of warning messages. The electronic cockpit displays then turned grey before going completely blank.

The left wing of the plane then suddenly dropped, without the crew providing any input at the flight controls. Safety investigators have for years worried that glitches in electrical systems could flight control computers to shutdown dangerously.

However, these incidents are difficult for investigators to understand and are hard to replicate. Airbus says it is working with both the UK’s Air Accident Investigation Branch and France’s BEA to help with inquiries into the incident.

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