Published on September 30, 2023, 12:59 pm
Mystery about GPS signals: “I have no idea where we were” – planes go off course
There are mysterious interferences with GPS signals in Iraqi-Iranian airspace. Crews must be prepared to fly without GPS navigation systems.
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So-called GPS spoofing has been occurring in the dotted area of Iraqi-Iranian airspace since September 25, 2023.
Operations Group
That’s what it’s all about
Since Monday, several incidents have been reported in which aircraft GPS signals have been disrupted.
This is happening in Baghdad and the northern part of Iraq.
It is not known who is behind the manipulation of GPS data.
GPS spoofing – sending jamming signals – in Iraqi-Iranian airspace is currently causing aircraft to stray off course. Since Monday, the number of incidents reported on a flight data website called Ops Group has increased rapidly.
A total of about 20 pilots, flight planners and air traffic controllers reported that GPS navigation signals were spoofed. Some of the crews were unable to navigate and had to request vectors from air traffic control for guidance. It is not known who is behind the manipulation of GPS data.
“I have no idea where we were”
The crew of an Embraer 650 aircraft en route from Europe to Dubai reported that both the onboard GPS navigation devices and the GPS signals from the pilot and co-pilot’s two iPads had completely failed.
“We only realized there was a problem when the autopilot started turning left and right, so it was obvious something was wrong. After a few minutes we received error messages in our flight management system”, says one of the pilots to the North American portal Forbes. The situation was not without danger: the plane ended up deviating about 80 nautical miles (more than 148 kilometers) from its course – the plane almost entered Iranian airspace without permission.
Pilots of a Bombardier Challenger 604 en route to Doha, Qatar report a similar incident. North of Baghdad, GPS data was interrupted. “We lost everything that had to do with navigation”, says a crew member. The system showed them that they had deviated 70 to 90 miles from the route. He switched to dead reckoning. “He had no idea where we were.”
Be prepared to fly without GPS
The US Federal Aviation Administration responded to the rise in spoofing incidents on Wednesday, writing in a warning to airlines that GPS signals could be disrupted on flights over Baghdad and northern Iraq.
The agency recommends that crews “place additional emphasis on maintaining continuous communication with appropriate air traffic control authorities, closely monitoring the performance of aircraft equipment for discrepancies or anomalies, and being prepared to operate without GPS navigation systems.” ”.
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