Pilot Chuck Cook talks about the Airbus software issue - Techs say there was a bitflip from solar radiation and lack of redundancy.

[–] • 1 pt

(edited )

Asked Grok about how close they were to the South Atlantic Magnetic Anomaly, interesting answer:

The JetBlue Flight 1230 incident occurred while the aircraft was cruising at FL350 (approximately 35,000 feet) over the Gulf of Mexico, roughly 70 nautical miles (about 130 kilometers or 81 statute miles) southwest of Tampa, Florida. This positions the event at coordinates around 26.5°N, 84.5°W, based on typical flight tracking data for the route from Cancún (21.0°N, 86.7°W) to Newark (40.7°N, 74.2°W) at that stage of the journey.

The South Atlantic Magnetic Anomaly (SAMA), a vast region where Earth's magnetic field is weakest, spans from about 5°S to 40°S latitude and 30°W to 70°W longitude, centered near 25°S, 50°W off Brazil's coast. Its northernmost edge reaches roughly 20°N over the Atlantic, but the core area of highest radiation flux (where cosmic ray penetration is most intense) is confined south of about 10°N over the western Atlantic and Gulf regions.

At the time of the incident, the aircraft was approximately 1,700–2,000 kilometers (1,056–1,243 miles) northwest of the SAMA's geometric center and about 1,000–1,200 kilometers (621–746 miles) north of the anomaly's nearest significant boundary over the central Atlantic. While not directly within the SAMA's core—where radiation risks are elevated for polar or transatlantic routes—the event occurred in a transitional zone of moderately weakened magnetic shielding over the Gulf, which can still amplify solar particle effects during intense events like the X-class solar flare active on October 30, 2025. This distance explains why the corruption was rare but possible, as global solar radiation can propagate effects beyond the anomaly's boundaries under peak solar cycle conditions.

Detailed articles: https://tech-champion.com/space-technology/solar-storms-vs-avionics-the-science-behind-the-a320-software-update/ https://aviationweek.com/air-transport/safety-ops-regulation/easa-orders-immediate-airbus-a320-flight-control-software Asked Grok about how close they were to the South Atlantic Magnetic Anomaly, interesting answer: >The JetBlue Flight 1230 incident occurred while the aircraft was cruising at FL350 (approximately 35,000 feet) over the Gulf of Mexico, roughly 70 nautical miles (about 130 kilometers or 81 statute miles) southwest of Tampa, Florida. This positions the event at coordinates around 26.5°N, 84.5°W, based on typical flight tracking data for the route from Cancún (21.0°N, 86.7°W) to Newark (40.7°N, 74.2°W) at that stage of the journey. > The South Atlantic Magnetic Anomaly (SAMA), a vast region where Earth's magnetic field is weakest, spans from about 5°S to 40°S latitude and 30°W to 70°W longitude, centered near 25°S, 50°W off Brazil's coast. Its northernmost edge reaches roughly 20°N over the Atlantic, but the core area of highest radiation flux (where cosmic ray penetration is most intense) is confined south of about 10°N over the western Atlantic and Gulf regions. > At the time of the incident, the aircraft was approximately 1,700–2,000 kilometers (1,056–1,243 miles) northwest of the SAMA's geometric center and about 1,000–1,200 kilometers (621–746 miles) north of the anomaly's nearest significant boundary over the central Atlantic. While not directly within the SAMA's core—where radiation risks are elevated for polar or transatlantic routes—the event occurred in a transitional zone of moderately weakened magnetic shielding over the Gulf, which can still amplify solar particle effects during intense events like the X-class solar flare active on October 30, 2025. This distance explains why the corruption was rare but possible, as global solar radiation can propagate effects beyond the anomaly's boundaries under peak solar cycle conditions.

parent
link