Computer Glitch Causes Airplane Plunge

A Qantas Airbus A330 flight plunged suddenly off the west coast of Australia in October 2008.  The incident left 110 people injured.  The plunge was blamed on on the failure of the flight control computers and one of the A330s air data internal reference units (ADIRU).  The flight control comuters reported erroneous data which resulted in command for the aircraft to pitch downward.

Two systemsof the computerized flight control of the Airbus A330 were blamed for the sudden plunge of a Qantas flight. The computers misinterpreted data causing the plane to pitch suddenly.  There were 110 people injured as a result.