France, Nov. 29 -- Airbus issued one of its biggest ever recalls after looking into what cause one of its best-selling A320 planes to make a sudden nosedive at the end of October.

It concluded that "intense solar radiation" could causeonboard software involved in flight controls to malfunction, an issue it said could be resolved by replacing the software.

"Software updates were carried out on virtually all aircraft last night,"Tabarot told French news channel BFMTV on Saturday, indicating that"more than 5,000" of the 6,000 planes concerned had already been fixed.

A limited number will require more extensive repairs. Airbus had reported that was the case for fewer than 100 planes, Tabarot said.

Meanwhile French Economy MinisterRoland L...