Buenos Aires, November 29 (NA) – The Airbus A320 aircraft of Ita Airways, carrying Pope Leo XIV on his first international trip to Turkey and Lebanon, required maintenance during his tour of the Middle East, international media reported. The aircraft needs a component replacement following a notification from the European aircraft manufacturer about a computer system failure, checked today by the Argentine News Agency (NA) in its usual review of international headlines. The 'A320 family' malfunction The aircraft is one of the 6,000 'A320 family' aircraft that, according to several sources, require an update to its flight control system after detecting a computer vulnerability linked to exposure to intense solar radiation. For this reason, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni confirmed that 'they will replace a component in the plane that is taking him to Istanbul along with a technician who will make the replacement,' as reported by the dw.h7VCCwAirbus site. Airbus explained that this is a preventive measure adopted after a technical incident that occurred at the end of October on an aircraft in the United States, which 'revealed that unusually high solar activity can corrupt essential data used by flight controls.' The Pope is in Istanbul on the third day of his visit to Turkey, and this Sunday he plans to travel from this plane, which he flew from Rome, to Beirut.
