Airbus has initiated an urgent recall impacting up to 6,000 of its A320-family aircraft, following the discovery of a critical software issue linked to solar radiation interference, a move that threatens significant travel disruptions worldwide.

Airbus issued an urgent directive on a “significant number" of A320 family aircraft, potentially disrupting travel. Here’s what we know.

The ITA Airways flight accompanying Pope Leo on his first international Apostolic Journey was forced to make an urgent safety repair over the weekend. The Airbus was a part of the more than 6,000 aircrafts requiring a software update.

Europe's Airbus said on Friday it was ordering immediate repairs to 6,000 of its widely used A320 family of jets in a sweeping recall affecting more than half the global fleet, threatening upheaval during the busiest travel weekend of the year in the United States and disruption worldwide.

Airlines around the world are racing to avoid widespread cancelations by fixing thousands of Airbus aircraft which need immediate maintenance to protect from a problem that injured passengers and caused an emergency landing last month.

EASA issues an emergency directive after Airbus identifies a fault in an A320 flight-control computer linked to an uncommanded pitch event, requiring immediate action.

The change must be carried out before the next routine flight, and is among the largest mass recalls affecting Airbus.

DARPA's X-65, that replaces conventional aircraft flight controls with puffs of air, is coming together at Boeing subsidiary Aurora’s Bridgeport, West Virginia facility. The fuselage is taking shape and awaits its radical wing design.

Aurora Flight Sciences is quietly turning a radical research sketch into metal, bolting on 30 ft wings that will help prove whether a jet can steer with air instead of moving parts. The X-65, built for DARPA’s Control of Revolutionary Aircraft with Novel Effectors (CRANE) program,