The GPS of tens of thousands of passenger planes was disrupted by a signal from the Russian border region – Joop

Tens of thousands of passenger aircraft experienced GPS malfunctions in the area over the Baltic Sea. GPS problems occurred due to the navigation system malfunctioning with a signal originating from the Russian border regions. Since August last year, this has included about 46,000 flights. The Guardian reported this.

Among the airlines affected by the disruptions are Ryanair, British Airways and easyJet. In March this year, an RAF plane carrying Defense Secretary Grant Shapps was also hit. The plane was on its way back to England from Poland, and was flying near the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, located between Poland and Lithuania, at the time of the malfunction.

An aircraft's Global Positioning System (GPS) is a component of the aircraft's navigation system. Although simply disabling the GPS does not immediately disable the aircraft's navigation, it does pose a safety risk. The British government denies that passengers on board are in danger, but describes the jamming devices as “wildly irresponsible.”

Although the British government suspects Russia of being behind the GPS disruptions, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) remains unclear whether scheduled flights are the targets. According to Director Glenn Bradley, unrest is more common in areas that see a lot of military activity. He also says there are several safety protocols in place to ensure that aircraft are not compromised.