A New Jersey-bound flight that abruptly descended thousands of feet in mid-air, resulting in 15 hospitalizations in October, was likely affected by cosmic rays from a supernova explosion in a distant galaxy, according to space experts. The JetBlue Airbus A320 was reportedly hit by a stream of high-energy particles from the supernova, which had traveled millions of years, said Clive Dyer, a space and radiation expert from the University of Surrey.
Dyer explained that cosmic rays can interact with modern microelectronics, altering the state of a circuit. This interaction can cause a simple bit flip, such as a zero to one or vice versa, which can disrupt information and cause malfunctions. In some cases, these rays can even cause hardware failures by inducing a current in an electronic device and burning it out.
The incident occurred on October 30, when the flight, en route from Cancun to Newark, experienced extreme turbulence and fell out of the sky without any apparent reason. The pilots managed to regain control and made an emergency landing in Tampa, Florida. However, approximately 20 passengers sustained serious injuries, including severe head wounds.
Airbus officials attributed the malfunction to “intense solar radiation” from the sun interfering with the plane’s 20-year-old navigation computer. However, Dyer, who has spent decades studying the effects of solar radiation on aircraft electronics, disagreed. He stated that the radiation levels were not potent enough to affect the flight and suggested that a supernova was the likely cause.
Cosmic rays are produced when massive stars explode in supernovas at the end of their life cycle, propelling protons across the universe at light speed. As these particles travel towards Earth, they can strike an electronic circuit within an aircraft sensor or onboard computer, disrupting the plane’s flight.