If most US planes are now properly equipped to leak 5G, one in eight planes will have to go through the garage box. Therefore, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has asked airlines to upgrade in the coming months.
By February 1, 2024, all aircraft must have become immune to 5G frequencies. According to the FFA report reported by Ars-Technica, 1,000 aircraft will be refitted this year. Two types of problems have been detected: 180 planes will have to replace an altimeter, the other 820 will just have to make some modifications to prevent 5G from disturbing certain on-board instruments.
A radio altimeter problem
At the center of the complications, the radio altimeter. This measurement instrument located in aircraft allows to know the distance of the device to the ground or to sea level, for which reason the radio altimeter is essential in sensitive phases of the flight, in particular at landingespecially for low visibility flights.
But with 5G, interference can occur due to the proximity of the “5G C-band” frequencies to those of the airline sector, separated by only a few gigahertz. Therefore, the safety of the aircraft would be questioned.
Therefore, the changes made in the different devices will be significant. And it will cost: $26 million to repair all the affected planes.
Source: BFM TV
