DGCA advisory for indian airlines on airplanes GPS signals disappearing in Middle East sky

There have been many reports in recent days that the GPS system of passenger planes is not working intermittently while flying over the Middle East. Due to this situation, any plane can lose its way and reach anywhere. According to NDTV AccordingThe reports have raised the concern of the Civil Aviation Regulator (DGCA), after which DGCA has issued an advisory for all Indian airlines. In this, the airlines have been alerted. Let’s know what is this whole matter.

Events that unfolded in September

At the end of September this year, the navigation system of many commercial flights in the airspace around Iran stopped working. This led to a situation of ‘darkness’ for the flights, meaning they did not know where to go next. One plane even entered Iran’s airspace without permission.

OpsGroup raised the issue

According to NDTV report, the OpsGroup has taken up the matter. The group is formed by several professional pilots. After the matter was brought to light by the OpsGroup, the Government of India and DGCA also became alert and issued a circular.

What does DGCA’s circular say

The DGCA circular said that the aviation industry is grappling with uncertainties due to new threats and reports of GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) jamming and spoofing.

what is spoofing

Here you can understand spoofing as a form of cheating. What happens is that planes flying from some areas of the Middle East receive fake GPS signals. This signal is so powerful that the aircraft’s system starts considering it to be correct. Because of this, many times the plane loses its navigation system.

In which areas is spoofing happening

NDTV report said that such incidents have been reported on a busy air route in northern Iraq and Azerbaijan. Many incidents have taken place near Erbil. Till September, 12 incidents have been reported. Four days ago on November 20, a similar incident took place near Ankara in Turkey.

Who is behind this

Who is doing the spoofing and why is it not known yet. It is believed that in the areas where there is regional tension, i.e. a situation of war, jamming and spoofing is happening due to the army’s electronic systems.