13 Nov 2010

Airbus to issue safety warning

9:30 pm on 13 November 2010

European plane maker Airbus is drafting a worldwide safety warning about electrical problems on some of its aircraft.

The warning is in response to an incident in August, in which a British Midland Airways flight from Khartoum to Beirut started banking steeply on its own and failed to respond to pilot commands for several minutes.

The fault temporarily shut off primary cockpit displays and computer controls.

Airbus says it is set to issue a warning to operators of its A-319, A-320 and A-321 aircraft.

According to its website, Air New Zealand operates 12 A-320s and has 14 more on order.