In the beginning of November, there were huge problems in the operation of air services at major airports of the country. Around 800 flights were affected at Delhi’s IGI airport. During this time, ATC had reported a fault in the automatic message switching system. But now the Central Government has admitted in a written statement in the Parliament that there was a problem of GPS spoofing at major airports of the country including Delhi, that is, the planes arriving at and taking off from all these airports have become victims of GPS spoofing.
What happened in Delhi?
Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said some planes flying near New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) reported GPS spoofing. The problem was reported during a GPS-based landing on Runway 10. As soon as the spoofing was detected, alternative procedures were immediately adopted, allowing the aircraft to land safely. The minister clarified that the other runways remained completely safe as conventional navigation systems were available there. There was no serious impact on flight operations.
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The problem is not limited to Delhi only
According to the government, reporting of GPS jamming/spoofing has been made mandatory from November 2023. After this, this problem is continuously coming to the fore in many big airports of the country. This includes Kolkata, Amritsar, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai airports. Complaints of GNSS interference are being received at all these places.
What is GPS spoofing?
GPS spoofing is a cyber attack in which a false location is shown to any device by sending fake signals. Just as your phone’s location suddenly appears four kilometers away, the same happens with planes. When this happens to an aircraft, its navigation system may go in the wrong direction, significantly increasing the risk of a crash.
