By Jack Phillips
The Federal Aviation Administration this week warned pilots about mysterious disruptions to GPS signals in Texas as a runway at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport was shut down.
The FAA told Bloomberg that it’s investigating possible jamming of the global positioning system (GPS) that aircraft use to guide them to runways and during their flights. The FAA also confirmed that the Dallas airport runway was shut down temporarily.
So far, according to the FAA, it has found “no evidence of intentional interference.” However, the agency didn’t appear to say what might be the cause. The FAA didn’t respond by press time to a request for comment.
American Airlines told Bloomberg that the GPS problem wasn’t affecting its business, and Southwest Airlines said it wasn’t experiencing any disruptions.
Flight tracking website ADS-B appeared to have been the first to report GPS interference around Dallas on Oct. 17.
“Significant GPS interference being reported by pilots in the Dallas area. Aircraft being rerouted onto non-RNAV arrivals,” it wrote.
As of Oct. 18, according to ADS-B’s website, GPS interference was being reported also near Waco, Texas, and near the Fort Hood military base in Killeen.
Dan Streufert, founder of the flight-tracking website, told Bloomberg that such interference in the Dallas area is unusual.
“In the U.S., it’s very unusual to see this without a prior notice,” Streufert noted.