DGCA begins probe after three Air India planes damaged at Delhi Airport during storm
Due to strong winds, two pieces of ground equipment positioned at adjacent stands and in nearby areas moved from their locations and hit the parked aircraft.
The Narendra Modi government on Monday admitted that several flights approaching the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) in New Delhi reported GPS spoofing last month.
In response to a question in Rajya Sabha during the Winter Session of Parliament, Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu said GPS spoofing incidents occurred while aircraft were using GPS-based landing procedures on Runway 10 at IGI Airport.
Advertisement
He, however, asserted that this did not disrupt the flight operations as the flights switched to contingency procedures after receiving spoofed navigation signals.
Advertisement
The minister said the flights used other runways as well as conventional ground-based navigational aids.
“Some flights reported GPS spoofing in the vicinity of IGIA, New Delhi while using GPS based landing procedures, while approaching on RWY 10. Contingency procedures were used for GPS spoofed flights approaching to RWY 10. There were no effects on movements of flights, on other runway ends having conventional navigational aids being operational,” he stated.
On November 6, around 800 flights were reportedly delayed following a technical glitch in the Automatic Message Switching System (AMSS) of the Air Traffic Control.
The GPS spoofing was also reported at several other airports, including Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai.
“Kolkata, Amritsar, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Chennai airports have all recorded GNSS interference incidents,” Naidu added.
Meanwhile, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) is seeking Wireless Monitoring Organisation (WMO)’s help in tracing the spoofing origin.
“After being mandated by DGCA to report instances of GPS jamming/spoofing since November 2023, regular reports are being received from other major airports in the country,” Naidu said.
The mminister said that steps are being taken to enhance cycber security against such threats.
“AAI is implementing advanced cyber security solutions for IT Networks and Infrastructure. These actions have been taken in accordance with the National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC) and Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) guidelines. Cyber security is ensured by continuous upgradation. As the nature and type of the threat changes, new protective measures are being taken,” he added.
Advertisement
