US Federal Aviation Administration says that 5G could affect and disrupt flights | Digit

It seems that 5G could cause problems and disrupt flights. This news comes in from the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). A statement on the official FAA website states, “The FAA is working on measures to ensure that radio signals from newly activated wireless telecommunications systems can coexist safely with flight operations in the United States, with input from the aviation sector and telecommunications industry….Because the proposed 5G deployment involves a new combination of power levels, frequencies, proximity to flight operations, and other factors, the FAA will need to impose restrictions on flight operations using certain types of radar altimeter equipment close to antennas in 5G networks.”

5G could disrupt airline electronics says FAA

The FAA says that 5G signals could affect electronics on aeroplanes such as altimeters. Recent laws were passed in France that allows airport buffer zones to protect the aircraft from interference during the last 96 seconds of flight. Antennas are also titled downward to avoid any sort of interference with the aircraft. Airports in the US have a buffer zone that protects only the last 20 seconds of the flight. They also do not have a law that allows don’t the tilting of antennas. The FAA goes on to state. “If there’s the possibility of a risk to the flying public, we are obligated to pause the activity, until we can prove it is safe. Radar altimeters still must be proven safe in the overall US 5G environment to fly into these airports, so we must take into account the higher signal strength when assessing safety and risk.” 

Telecom carriers in the US have also offered to delay 5G deployment for two weeks as the FAA will then work with airlines and manufacturers to figure out the best path forward. They will perform tests to determine how radar altimeters function in a 5G C-band environment. How this plays out, we will only find out once the FAA clears the issue up. 

Also Read: 5G will finally be rolled out in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Gurugram and other Indian cities in 2022