Paris, January 10 - Air France pilots have raised serious concerns about the weather radar system on the Airbus A350, following a detailed investigation by the French Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis (BEA) into a significant in-flight incident. The issues center on recurring weather radar faults that can signal underlying structural damage to the radome, the composite nose cone housing the radar antenna. In a notable case involving flight AF291 from Osaka to Paris on an Airbus A350 registered F-HTYO, multiple “WXR Fault” alerts appeared shortly after takeoff, rendering the radar inoperative and leaving the crew without critical weather information. This failure stemmed from a collapsed radome, weakened by undetected internal delamination caused by prior bird strikes, which crushed the radar antenna and even disrupted Pitot probes, leading to unreliable airspeed indications and a high-workload emergency return to Osaka.
The BEA report, released late in 2025, revealed that the aircraft had experienced at least five known bird strikes and a lightning strike between 2022 and the incident, yet maintenance checks often focused only on external appearance without inspecting the radome's inner surface. Recurring radar fault messages had become uncomfortably common in the days leading up to the flight, but electronic tests sometimes passed despite hidden damage obstructing antenna movement. Such anomalies impair pilots' situational awareness, particularly during long-haul operations where accurate detection of thunderstorms and turbulence is essential for safe route deviations and overall flight safety.
In response to these Airbus A350 weather radar concerns and the broader implications for composite structure integrity, Airbus has revised its troubleshooting manuals to treat persistent radar faults as potential indicators of structural issues rather than isolated electronic problems. Air France has implemented mandatory internal radome inspections following any bird strike, lightning, or hail encounter, regardless of visible external damage, and enhanced pilot training on managing sensor conflicts through the aircraft’s NAIADS data switching system. These measures aim to prevent similar escalations where a seemingly minor fault masks serious degradation.
As of January 2026, Air France pilots remain vigilant, emphasizing stricter adherence to updated maintenance protocols to ensure that weather radar faults do not evolve into in-flight structural failures. The ongoing refinements underscore the critical importance of proactive monitoring on the Airbus A350 fleet, one of the most advanced widebody aircraft in service, to safeguard crew, passengers, and operational reliability on global routes.