Why electronic warfare worries airlines and pilots

THE GPS spoofing It’s a problem that affects hundreds of people flights newspapers and this poses new risks for both airlines and passengers.

It is a mechanism by which systems signals are manipulated pilots may therefore encounter difficulties when controlling or landing an aircraft.

Among the complexities that may arise, there is that time and location data can be changed .

In addition, False proximity alarms may occur and navigation screens may display incorrect information. .

That could distract attention and cause discomfort the expected development of the flight, among other imminent dangers such as the occurrence of an accident.

One of the people who experienced this is American Airlines Captain Dan Carey, who told the The Wall Street Journal that A false alarm began to sound while flying a Boeing 777 in March 2024, over Pakistan .

As shown “It was worrying, but not surprising, because we were at cruising altitude” .

Although no accident occurred and the trip could be completed efficiently, he said that If at the same time an engine failure or other emergency occurred mid-flight, the situation “could be extremely dangerous.” .

GPS spoofing measures They are generally used by the military to protect themselves from attacks drones and missiles .

Howeveralso affect international commercial flights .

Pilots, industry officials and regulators assured the American newspaper that These cases are observed beyond the radius of conflict zones like Ukraine and the Middle East.

The analyzes of SkAI Data Services and the Zurich University of Applied Sciences reflect that There has been a significant increase in the number of flights affected daily .

In February 2024, there were only a few dozen, while By August of the same year, that number exceeded 1,100. .

Failures They can last just a few minutes or span an entire flight This scenario has therefore raised concerns both among companies in the sector and among the American authorities.

Air safety officials told the aforementioned media that Although disruptions of this type have been noted, so far there have been no major travel security issues. .

This is due, in part, to Pilots are often trained to respond to crisis scenarios because they can use other navigation systems as a backup. due to GPS failures.

However, situations like those mentioned can make that their tasks are more complex and they need to pay more attention, for example, to alarms or data that could be false .

Ken Alexander, chief satellite navigation scientist at the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), said at a conference in September: “If we lose an aircraft because of workload issues due to problems we encounter, compounded by an emergency, it will be a horrible event “.

In this North American country, airlines, aircraft manufacturers, suppliers and safety regulators They come together to seek short and long term solutions as verified by the Journal.

People familiar with the matter said They expect equipment standards to be presented, tentatively, no earlier than 2025. .

To prepare for the possibility of these changes, Pilots receive advance instructions so they can identify and know how to react .

University of Texas at Austin aerospace engineering professor Todd Humphreys assured the aforementioned media outlets that Most GPS spoofing attacks originate from transmitters located in territories such as Russia, Ukraine, and Israel. .

Referring to cases in which modifications occur, he said that pilots ‘do twice as much work in the cockpit’ .

Humphreys also warned that Work should be accelerated to make planes less susceptible to GPS spoofing .

In this sense, he emphasized that It is important that solutions are presented before a major accident occurs .

“It’s embarrassing for the airline industry, airlines and the FAA,” added the academic.

The organization of aviation security, Ops Group compiled reports from airline employees detailing some problems they had to face .

For example, a case was recorded in September 2023 in which GPS spoofing nearly took private Embraer plane to Iran without authorization .

Such situations can be complex not only because they involve a different destination than planned, but also because they There are some airspaces that are riskier than others .

another case led a Boeing 787 to abort two landings . One of them occurred when he was just 15 meters off the ground.

The executive director of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, Florian Guillermet, told the Journal that Although they saw disruptions, they did not record cases in which flights were more at risk for this reason. .

However, he recognized that “The risk increases in terms of the number of events.”

American airlines like United Airlines and American Airlines, among others, They evaluate new procedures so your pilots can better react to fake GPS data.

The captain of a Boeing 777 from the first company mentioned, Christopher Behnam, told the Journal that He used to identify interference of this type during his flights in the Middle East, before retiring in August. of 2024.

“We are prepared for these things, so You have to stay calm and follow the procedure “, he assured.

Yes, he said that When pilots rely on GPS to land, for example in situations where they have low visibility, these changes “can be very alarming.” .

From the FAA they told the aforementioned media at the end of September 2024 that They have no record of GPS spoofing in the United States, but industry and government officials said they have received reports of possible cases. over the last few years.

The aeronautical agency preferred not to comment on the procedures so that pilots can deal with these scenarios.

For their part, Boeing and Airbus have assured that They work with airlines to develop methods that can help them in these situations. .