European safety regulators are warning aircraft operators of increased likelihood of satellite-based navigation system interruption since the conflict in Ukraine began.
Jamming or possible spoofing of navigation signals in certain areas – around the Black Sea, Kaliningrad and eastern Finland, the eastern Mediterranean, and northern Iraq – has intensified, says the European Union Aviation Safety Agency.
In some cases flights have been forced to re-route or change their destination owing to the inability to obtain sufficient navigation precision.
EASA says degradation of the signals could result in loss of area navigation approach capabilities, waypoint navigation, and inability to maintain required navigation performance operations.
Other potential effects include failure of systems using satellite-based systems for time reference, inconsistent aircraft positioning on displays, or activation of terrain-awareness warnings.
EASA has stopped short of issuing a formal safety directive.
But it is recommending a series of mitigating measures, to ensure contingency procedures are followed, that conventional navigation infrastructure – notably ILS equipment – is operational, and pro-active NOTAMs are issued.
Air navigation providers should establish processes to collect and disseminate information on degradation occurrences, while aircraft operators should ensure crews are alert to any interruptions and able to implement position-verification procedures using conventional navigation aids.
