NEW YORK (PIX11) — A JetBlue flight from Cancun to Newark suddenly dropped mid-air and injured 15 passengers, a frightening episode that forced an unexpected emergency landing in Tampa.
For weeks, investigators believed the Airbus A320’s violent plunge was caused by a software malfunction. But now, some experts are pointing to something far more unusual: the possibility that a cosmic flare disrupted the aircraft’s systems.
The scare unfolded back in October.
Passengers had been thrown into overhead panels as the plane abruptly lost control, and the FAA quickly labeled it a “flight control issue.”
That was as far as the explanation went, until space experts began weighing in this week. Clive Dyer, a space weather and radiation expert at the University of Surrey in the U.K., spoke with the outlet Space.com about the incident and suggested the sudden drop in altitude could have something to do with cosmic rays ignited by a star explosion, hitting Earth after traveling through space for millions of years.
PIX11 spoke with astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, who explained that powerful bursts of energy known as cosmic flares send high-speed particles racing across the galaxy.
Most never reach the ground, but in rare cases, they can make it far enough into Earth’s atmosphere to interfere with electronics, including those inside airplanes.
“They’re high-energy protons traveling nearly the speed of light,” Tyson said. “When they hit Earth’s atmosphere, they create a cascade of particles — and some can reach Earth’s surface.”
That possibility adds a stunning new layer to the investigation.
Air safety expert Anthony Brickhouse told PIX11 there’s no sign that turbulence caused the drop, and that modern aircraft, full of onboard computers, are vulnerable to anything that disrupts their software.
“Whether we’re talking about Airbus or Boeing, these planes run off software,” he said. “If there’s a glitch or an error, it could affect the safe operation of the aircraft.”
Airbus has already announced a software update across its U.S. fleet of about 6,000 planes. As for travelers wondering whether to worry, Brickhouse emphasized that these events are extremely rare and well-monitored. The most important safety step remains the simplest: keep your seat belt on, even when the sign is off.
For now, the FAA has not released an updated report.