Serious incident to the Airbus A320 registered EI-NSF operated by Aer Lingus on 20/09/2024 en route

Flight AD Dublin (Ireland) - AD Bordeaux-Mérignac (33):
 
Air traffic control lost radio and radar contact while the plane was cruising at FL330. The crew continues and descends towards their destination. Contact was reestablished at FL100.

This incident is currently the subject of a safety investigation. Since the BEA identified two similar incidents that occurred over a seven-month period, a joint interim report for the three investigations was published on July 23, 2025, and is available in the REPORT tab.

The three safety investigations will focus on the following topics:

• analysis of the DRAIMS failure;
• development and certification of the DRAIMS;
• procedures and training for controllers in abnormal and urgent situations;
• radio failure and/or transponder failure procedures;
• possibility to access primary radar information to manage an aircraft with a transponder
failure;
• coordination with military units for in-flight assistance for aircraft in difficulty or in a distress
situation;
• transmission/reception capabilities of control units on the aeronautical emergency
frequency.