Why 5G roll-outs are disrupting flights

Q Why is it in News ?

A Air India said Boeing had cleared its B777 aircraft for flights to the US following concerns that the 5G roll-out there could interfere with critical aircraft functions.

Q What is 5G Technology?

A 

• 5G or fifth generation is the latest upgrade in the long-term evolution (LTE) mobile broadband networks.
• It’s a unified platform which is much more capable than previous mobile services with more capacity, lower latency, faster data delivery rate and better utilization of spectrum.

Q How can 5G affect flight safety?

A 

• Airlines take off and land using auto-pilot systems, which use data from radar altimeters to determine the altitude of the aircraft.
• Altimeters emit radio waves at 4.2-4.3 Gigahertz (GHz) frequency, which could interfere with a 5G band called C-Band, which lies between 3.7-4.4 GHz.
• This interference can mess up the data. That’s the safety concern. Radio altimeters are used at airports and other low-altitude locations.
• A different kind of altimeter, called pressure altimeter, is used for high altitude areas.
• Not using auto-pilot would lead to more fuel consumption and higher costs for airlines.

Q What happens to Air India’s operations?

A 

• While scheduled international flights, to and from India, remain suspended due to the pandemic, Air India operates flights to the US under an air bubble agreement.
• These routes are served by the airline’s wide-body fleet of Boeing 777 and Boeing 787 planes.
• The roll out of 5G is expected to primarily impact the operations of Boeing 777 and 747.

Q How Can this impact India’s 5G roll-out?

A 

• India’s 5G auctions are expected to include spectrum bands of 3.3GHz -3.6GHz, which means the C-Band may not be operational, at least in the near future.
• Plus, aircraft equipment is manufactured globally, with certain standards.
• The FAA tests will likely lead to standards for altimeters and applied internationally.
• For aircraft makers, altimeters are key equipment. But they’re bought off-the-rack instead being designed in-house.
• Once a standard is known, it can be implemented in all aircraft.