Air France A380 aborts flight after computer glitch

[Gripen]

N Air France A380 had to turnaround and land in New York after problems with its navigation system,only days after the superjumbo began flying across the Atlantic.                                  

• The double-decker Airbus made a U-turn 90 minutes after takeoff from New York and landed safely at Kennedy Airport in the early hours of Saturday, an Air France spokesman said.
  ``The plane is new and is still getting into its stride. It was aminor computer problem that made navigation a little imprecise,'' hesaid.   
  The plane was carrying about 530 people on the New York-Paris flight when it was forced to turn back. Following repairs in New York, it took off again three hours later.
  Itwas the second time that an A380, the world's largest passenger plane,was forced to turn around in mid-flight due to a malfunction.
  
  A Singapore Airlines superjumbo returned to Paris on September 27 after one of its four engines failed during a routine flight to Singapore. Airbus later said the engine trouble was a ``non event'' in technical terms.
  
  TheAir France spokesman described last week's problem as a ``minor''computer glitch, and said the airline took immediate steps to respondto the defect.
  
  ``It was a minor glitch, but wedo apply a principle of absolute caution and as soon as there is theslightest concern, we come back, we fix it and the plane takes offagain,'' he said.
  
  ``It was a problem with the in-flight computer but it did not at all affect air speed,'' he added.
  
  An Air France A330 jet made by Airbus crashed in the Atlantic in June, killing all 228 people on board.
  
  Investigatorsfound the plane's air speed sensors were defective, but said that thecrash was not solely caused by the faulty monitors. The inquiry iscontinuing and no final verdict on the cause of the accident has beenreleased.
  
  Air France's main pilots' union, the SNPL, said the superjumbo was forced to return to New York after the automatic pilot broke down, but it stressed this was a minor incident.
  The superjumbo made its maiden flight for Air France 10 days ago, taking off from Paris for New   York with 538 passengers on board.
  
  Air Franceis the first European airline to use the giant plane, but it made itsfirst test flight in April 2005 and has been in service for SingaporeAirlines since October 2007.
  
  
  http://www.news.com.au/travel/news/air-france-a380-aborts-flight-after-computer-glitch/story-e6frfq80-1225805585634