FAA Warns Airline Pilots as GPS Signals Disrupted Around Dallas – Bloomberg

October 18, 2022

Written by Editor

Image: Shutterstock

Blog Editor’s Note: This incident seems very similar, at the outset, to one that happened near the Denver airport in January

One difference is that this disruption made it into the media.

The government kept the January Denver event quiet until academics starting publishing papers in August that used it as a case study. We have been told the Department of Homeland Security will release an analysis of that event “any day.” – By the way, the government has already said they won’t reveal what organization or person caused the Denver mishap.

It took the government 33.5 hours to identify and terminate the source of the Denver disruption. 

We hope this one is resolved more quickly. Although, info on the GPSJam.org website shows that this has already been going on since yesterday. See image below.

And we hope the government won’t wait almost a year to tell us what happened, including who is responsible.

Which causes us to wonder  – If the report about Denver had gotten out more quickly, could today’s problem in Dallas been avoided? 

UPDATE 1: Subsequent to this post, government representatives speaking to the President’s Space-based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Advisory Board in November 2022 said this incident at Dallas lasted 44 hours and “self-resolved.” They said the source was never identified and just stopped on its own.
Update 2: Stanford researchers have determined that the interference event lasted 24 hours, though it took the air traffic system another 20 hours to reset and recover.  As of 1 Feb 2023 they are continuing attempts to identify the disruption source.

Despite claims that traffic was not impacted, FAA was reporting gate delays:

++++

Thanks to member Ryan Terp for bringing this incident to our attention!

Screen shot of the Dallas Fort Worth Airport’s Automated Terminal Information System today:

 

FAA Warns Airline Pilots as GPS Signals Disrupted Around Dallas

  • Runway at Dallas closed, flights using older technology

  • FAA says it’s found no evidence of ‘intentional interference’

Flights into the Dallas area are being forced to take older, cumbersome routes and a runway at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport has been closed after aviation authorities said GPS signals there aren’t reliable.

The Federal Aviation Administration said in an emailed statement Tuesday it’s investigating the possible jamming of the global-positioning system that aircraft increasingly use to guide them on more efficient routes and to runways. So far, the agency has found “no evidence of intentional interference,” it said.

READ MORE

What Can YOU Do? How Can YOU Help?

PNT is the quiet backbone of everything but too many leaders still don’t see the risk.

But you do. You understand the systems, the dependencies, the failure chains. That insight is rare — and it’s exactly what your country needs right now. Contact your government leaders and industry decision-makers and tell them resilient PNT isn’t a feature — it’s the foundation everything else depends on.

Start the Conversation

Use our Resilient PNT Key Talking Points to make the case.

U.S. Advocates

Find your representatives at Congress.gov, then use our email template to reach them in minutes.

When you get a response, let us know. Every conversation strengthens the mission.

More PNT News

Starlink Ending User Access to Location Data – Inside GNSS

Starlink Ending User Access to Location Data – Inside GNSS

Image: Hidden TTY on Reddit What's new: Starlink announced it will no longer allow users to access location information on their terminals. Why it's important: Some users were able to use that information to navigate in GNSS denied environments. What else to know:...

Senior Job Open at DOT, Cambridge – Oversees PNT & Infrastructure

Senior Job Open at DOT, Cambridge – Oversees PNT & Infrastructure

Image: DOT Volpe Center What's new: The John A. Volpe National Transportation Center in Cambridge, MA, is seeking a Director to lead the Center for Infrastructure Systems and Technology within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology (OST-R)....

ICAO  Cites Threats to Civil Aircraft fm GNSS Disruption – again

ICAO Cites Threats to Civil Aircraft fm GNSS Disruption – again

Image: Youtube - Fatal Azerbaijan Air crash after being shot at by Russian forces due to GPS jamming and no ADS-B identification What's new: The Secretary General of the International Civil Aviation Organization addressed the World Overflight Risk Conference in...

UK MOD moving on eLoran

UK MOD moving on eLoran

Image: Copilot AI What's new: We understand the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) recently awarded a contract to a UK-led team to create a deployable PNT solution based on eLoran to be delivered over the next two years. The intent is that, once delivered, the system can be...

Get PNT News in Your Inbox