Aircraft makers Boeing and Airbus warn of huge negative impact on aviation
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Aircraft manufacturers have raised new safety concerns about Fifth Generation (5G) network that provides the fastest mobile connectivity in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere, which Nigeria plans to deploy in January 2022.
5G enables a new kind of network that connects virtually everyone and everything together, including machines, objects, and devices.
But enthusiasm for it is being doused by Boeing and Airbus, the world’s two biggest plane makers, who have called on the US government to delay the full rollout of new 5G phone services.
The BBC reports that a letter written by the top executives at Boeing and Airbus warned that the technology could have “an enormous negative impact on the aviation industry.”
Concerns have previously been raised that C-Band spectrum 5G wireless could interfere with aircraft electronics.
US telecoms giants AT&T and Verizon are due to deploy 5G services on 5 January.
“5G interference could adversely affect the ability of aircraft to safely operate,” said the bosses of Boeing and Airbus Americas, Dave Calhoun and Jeffrey Knittel, in a joint letter to US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
__________________________________________________________________
Related articles:
Senate approves 5G deployment in Nigeria
30 firms join alliance calling for ‘Open’ 5G systems
5G network poses no risk to public health, safety, says Patami
__________________________________________________________________
5G interference with aircraft radio altitude meters
The letter cited research by trade group Airlines for America which found that if the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) 5G rules had been in effect in 2019, about 345,000 passenger flights and 5,400 cargo flights would have faced delays, diversions or cancellations.
The aviation industry and the FAA have raised concerns about potential interference of 5G with sensitive aircraft equipment like radio altitude meters.
“Airbus and Boeing have been working with other aviation industry stakeholders in the US to understand potential 5G interference with radio altimeters,” Airbus said in a statement.
“An Aviation Safety Proposal to mitigate potential risks has been submitted for consideration to the US Department of Transportation.”
This month, the FAA issued airworthiness directives warning 5G interference could result in flight diversions, saying it would provide more information before the 5 January rollout date.
In November, AT&T and Verizon delayed the commercial launch of C-band wireless service by a month until 5 January and adopted precautionary measures to limit interference.
Aviation industry groups have said the measures did not go far enough, with Boeing and Airbus saying they made a counterproposal that would limit cellular transmissions around airports and other critical areas.
Fearmongering?
Last week, United Airlines chief executive Scott Kirby said the FAA’s 5G directives would bar the use of radio altitude meters at about 40 of America’s biggest airports.
The US wireless industry group CTIA has said 5G is safe and accused the aviation industry of fearmongering and distorting facts.
“A delay will cause real harm. Pushing back deployment one year would subtract $50bn in economic growth, just as our nation recovers and rebuilds from the pandemic,” CTIA chief executive Meredith Attwell Baker said in a blog post last month.
Inability of aircraft to safely operate
CNN adds that Calhoun and Knittel insist in their letter to Buttigieg that the January 5 rollout could cause interference that could “adversely affect the ability of aircraft to safely operate.”
At issue are instruments known as radar altimeters that pilots of commercial airliners need to make safe landings in low visibility conditions.
An industry analysis tells CNN interference could affect hundreds of thousands of flights each year, delaying flights or causing them to divert.
The CEOs say they have developed a new proposal to limit the power of 5G transmissions near airports, and call on the Joe Biden administration to work with the Federal Communications Commission to adopt such a plan.
The impacts of allowing 5G to deploy, “are massive, and come at a time when our industry is still struggling from the COVID-19 pandemic,” the CEOs said.
The FAA announced a new rule earlier this month that forbids pilots from using auto-landing and other certain flight systems at low altitudes where 5G wireless signals could interfere with onboard instruments that measure a plane’s distance to the ground.
The rule, which affects more than 6,800 US airplanes and dozens of aircraft manufacturers, could lead to disruptions in some flight routes involving low-visibility conditions.
There is a potential risk, the FAA said, that the 5G signals could lead to faulty readings that may make flying unsafe in these conditions.
Characterizing the orders as urgent, the FAA bypassed the typical public feedback process in issuing the restrictions.
