when an airbus a320 jetliner crashed at an air show in mulhouse, france, last june, killing three and injuring 50 more, the french pilots' union thought it knew why: the airliner's highly computerized " fly-by-wire " electronic control system had failed, sending the plane into a forest.
the supposition made sense. the airbus is the first subsonic commercial airliner in the world to carry fly-by-wire, and new systems can have plenty of bugs. fortunately for the european consortium that manufactures the plane, preliminary investigation pointed to pilot error: the plane was flying dangerously low. these reports reassured the three airlines using the a320 (air france, british airways, and air inter, a french regional carrier), all of which restored the plane to service within two days of the crach.