EASA recently issued a revised Safety Information Bulletin 2022-02R1 to address a continuing issue of GPS navigation signal outages. “Since February 2022, there has been an increase in jamming and or spoofing of global navigation satellite systems (GNSS),” the bulletin said. “This issue particularly affects the geographical areas surrounding conflict zones but is also present in the eastern Mediterranean, Baltic Sea, and Arctic area.” The problem has “intensified” in recent months.
The effects of GNSS jamming and/or spoofing were observed by crews in various phases of flight, in some cases leading to rerouting or diversions due to the inability to perform a safe landing. According to EASA, “Under the present conditions, it is not possible to predict GNSS interference or its effects. The magnitude of the issues generated by these interferences would depend upon the extent of the area concerned, on the duration, and on the phase of flight.”
In addition to making recommendations to national aviation authorities and ATC services, EASA advised operators that flight crews promptly report to ATC any interruption, degradation, or anomalous performance of GNSS equipment or related avionics; ensure that limitations introduced by the dispatch of aircraft with inoperative radio navigation systems in accordance with the MEL are considered before operating in the affected areas; and check that alternative navigation aids critical for the intended route and approach are available.