LOS ANGELES (KNX) — Just as telecommunications companies like AT&T and Verizon are ramping up to unleash 5G wireless to the world, pilots and airlines are sounding the alarms — saying those faster downloads and clearer phone calls will come at a dangerous price.
Laura Einsetler, a commercial airline pilot with more than 30 years of experience, spoke with KNX In Depth about 5G and how it has the potential to seriously mess with avionics and flight instruments.
“There’s a reason why we have airplane mode,” Einsetler said, laughing. “Because of the interference it does create in our navigational systems. And [in the case of 5G], it directly interferes with our radar altimeters — especially in things like low visibility conditions, where we’re relying heavy on our equipment.”
Radar altimeters are devices used to measure how high a plane is off the ground when a pilot cannot see the runway but according to The Verge, a new Federal Aviation Administration rule related to 5G strips pilots of that luxury, because the new technology could interfere with the altimeter.
“The FAA ruled on [Dec. 7] that those thousands of United States planes (and some helicopters) won’t be able to use many of the guided and automatic landing systems … if they’re landing at an airport where there’s deemed to be enough interference that their altimeters aren’t reliable,” The Verge reported, adding that there are concerns over the 5G messing with the accuracy of the devices.
So if the runway isn’t visible and the altimeters aren’t to be trusted because of 5G interference, what is a pilot supposed to do?
“For us as pilots of course safety comes first … so when we’re taking you to the destination that now we think ‘Ok, it’s one of these 40 airports in question,’ — we haven’t done the testing and really proper vetting on the safety situation with the 5G cell tower and how it will interfere,” Einsetler said.
“So either the flight’s delayed, the flight’s canceled or we get near the airport and we have to punch off to a different destination and divert.”
That situation would hit close to home in Los Angeles, where the marine layer typically leads to low-visibility landings at LAX.
“Those months when we have that heavier fog that rolls in … we often use our category three equipment and that includes these radar altimeters,” she said.
“So we have to absolutely trust what our altitude readings are telling us to be able to land the jet safely on the ground.”
In a statement shared by the FAA, the transportation agency said it fully believes that “the expansion of 5G and aviation will safely co-exist” and that officials are working to build a framework to make that happen.
But documents shared by the agency reveal that, “based on the work of the task force ... there is ‘a major risk that 5G telecommunications systems in the 3.7-3.98 GHz band will cause harmful interference to radar altimeters on all types of civil aircraft.'"
Einsetler said that knowledge should send off alarm bells at the FAA.
“The surprise to me is that the FAA now has put out a mandate that as of January when these systems get turned on, that we’re not supposed to use our radar altimeters because now we can’t rely on those,” she said.
“If that’s what’s gonna stand, it’s gonna wreak some havoc across the industry and for the passengers and really increase the safety threat.”
As of December, The Verge reports that the planned rollouts for 5G are in at least “46 markets designated as Partial Economic Areas (PEAs), including 1-4, 6-10, 12-19, 21-41 and 43-50.”
Among those numbers on the list are five California cities including L.A., Fresno, San Francisco, San Diego and Sacramento.
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