A packed plane that fell 100 feet in just seven seconds was likely hit by cosmic rays from space, scientists say.
A flight bound for New Jersey may have been hit by rays from a star that exploded in another galaxy.
Twenty passengers were injured when a JetBlue plane suddenly crashed. Airbus The A320 took off on October 30, but the pilot quickly regained control of the aircraft.
The plane was hit by high-energy particles that traveled millions of light years and were caused by a supernova, which is an exploding star.
This was stated by Clive Dyer, an expert on space and radiation from the University of California. Surrey – he denied earlier statements by Airbus that the crash was caused by “intense solar radiation.”
Dyer told space.com that cosmic rays “can interact with modern microelectronics and change the state of an electrical circuit.”
He believes the beam hit the plane's on-board computer, causing it to malfunction.
The powerful rays are created when huge stars explode at the end of their lives.
Supernovae then carry protons throughout the universe at the speed of light.
Dyer said: “They can cause a simple bit flip, like 0 to 1 or 1 to 0. They can mess up information and cause things to go wrong.”
“But they can also cause equipment failures when they induce current in an electronic device and burn it out.”
The plane was flying from Cancun. Mexicoin Newark, New Jersey when he suddenly fell 100 feet into the air.
The severe turbulence left about 20 passengers seriously injured, some with bloody head wounds.
Once the pilots regained control of the plane, they made an emergency landing in Tampa. Floridawhere 15 people were sent. hospital.
The cosmic ray theory put forward by a space expert contradicts claims Airbus made in a November 28 statement.
The operator said at the time that “intense solar radiation can damage data critical to the functioning of flight controls.”
He announced that he had “found a significant number of A320 aircraft.” Family aircraft currently in service that may be affected.”
The manufacturer then grounded 6,000 A320 aircraft to patch the vulnerability.
Space expert Dyer said the radiation levels cited by Airbus were not strong enough to affect the flight.
He added: “Manufacturers must produce reliable electronics, especially in safety-critical applications.”
