Cosmic rays from space may have caused turbulence on New Jersey-bound flight, sending 15 people to hospital: professor

An Airbus A320 traveling to New Jersey experienced a sudden drop of several thousand feet, resulting in injuries to about 20 passengers, 15 of whom required hospital care. A university professor has proposed an unusual explanation for the aircraft's sudden descent: cosmic rays originating from deep space.

Clive Dyer, a space and radiation specialist at the University of Surrey, told Space.com that high-energy particles from a distant supernova could have interacted with the plane's electronics. "Cosmic rays can alter modern microelectronics by flipping bits from zero to one or vice versa," Dyer explained. "They can disrupt information or even cause hardware failure by inducing currents that burn out components."

The flight had departed Cancun on October 30 en route to Newark when the aircraft abruptly dropped. Pilots regained control and safely landed the plane in Tampa. The violent motion during the drop caused significant injuries, including head trauma that left some passengers bleeding for the remainder of the flight.

Airbus representatives initially attributed the event to "intense solar radiation" affecting navigation systems. However, Dyer argues that solar activity on that day was insufficient to trigger such a malfunction. Instead, he suggests the radiation could have been produced by a supernova, sending high-energy protons across space that, upon reaching Earth, disrupted the aircraft's electronic systems.

While cosmic rays constantly strike Earth's atmosphere, most lack the intensity to impact electronics seriously. Solar flares can cause temporary disruptions, but the type of extreme disturbance observed on the JetBlue flight would likely require particles from a powerful stellar explosion.

Dyer emphasized that aviation manufacturers should reinforce aircraft electronics to withstand potential cosmic interference. "Producers of safety-critical systems must ensure robust electronics," he said. "Over the last two decades, complacency has grown due to the absence of major solar events, but resilience against cosmic phenomena remains essential."

Author: Connor Blake