New Delhi, Dec 1 (IANS) The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has requested the Wireless Monitoring Organisation (WMO) to possibly identify the source of interference and spoofing of GPS experienced by some flights near the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi while approaching Runway 10, the Parliament was informed on Monday.

In a reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said: “Some flights reported GPS spoofing in the vicinity of IGIA, New Delhi, while using GPS-based landing procedures, when approaching on Runway 10. Contingency procedures were used for GPS spoofed flights approaching RWY 10. There were no effects on movements of flights, on other runway ends having conventional navigational aids in operation.”

The civil aviation regulator DGCA has issued a Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) on November 10 for real-time reporting of GPS spoofing or GNSS (global navigation satellite system) interference events around IGI Airport, he added.

Aircraft flying over Delhi have been experiencing “severe” GPS spoofing last month, causing false navigation data such as incorrect aircraft positions and misleading terrain warnings, which poses a danger to flight safety, according to pilots and air traffic control officials.

Such occurrences have been reported within a 60 nautical mile radius of Delhi. The disruptions often required manual intervention, with air traffic controllers providing direct navigation guidance to the cockpit crew.

Aviation watchdog DGCA has asked airlines, pilots and air traffic controllers to report GPS spoofing incidents within 10 minutes of the occurrences.

Global Positioning System (GPS)/Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) spoofing and jamming refer to attempts to manipulate a user’s navigation system by giving false signals.

“Any pilot, ATC controller, or technical unit detecting abnormal GPS behaviour (eg, position anomalies, navigation errors, loss of GNSS signal integrity, or spoofed location data) shall initiate real-time reporting (within 10 minutes of occurrence),” the DGCA said in a three-page circular issued on November 10.

Also, the watchdog has said the entities should mention the type of interference, as to whether it was “jamming/spoofing/signal loss/integrity error”, as well as the aircraft equipment affected by the interference.

–IANS

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