EASA updates Safety Information Bulletin on global navigation satellite system outages and alterations
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has updated the Safety Information Bulletin (SIB) on ‘‘Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Outages and Alterations Leading to Communication / Navigation / Surveillance Degradation’’.
The second revision of this SIB was published to warn operators about interference with navigation systems caused by spoofing and jamming of signals, particularly close to conflict zones. ‘Jamming’ blocks a signal, whereas ‘spoofing’ sends false information to the receiver on board the aircraft. Awareness of these potential issues allows pilots to use other forms of navigation aids if they encounter issues and thereby mitigate the risks.
This publication (SIB 2022-02R3) is the third update and reflects the latest analysis and recent phenomena, such as cases of pilots having reacted to false terrain awareness and warning system pull-up (TAWS PU) warnings, resulting in high-rate uncoordinated climbs. SIB 2022-02R3 also makes it clear that spoofing is riskier for air operations than jamming. Spoofing is harder to detect and may affect multiple systems, leading to a cumulative effect if several systems are affected. The SIB updates the recommendations to the various actors accordingly.
Finally, the information on the impacted airspace has been moved from the SIB to a dedicated webpage on GNSS outages and alterations. This can be more easily and quickly updated as new information becomes available.
SIB 2022-02 was first published on March 17, 2022.
