Russian pilots were advised to prepare for flights without GPS

Deputy Head of the Federal Air Transport Agency Dmitry Yadrovy sent a letter to the General Director of the State Air Traffic Management Corporation Igor Moiseenko and the heads of the agency’s interregional territorial departments recommending that Russian airlines refuse to use the GPS system during flights. This is due to possible jamming of its signals, as well as its possible shutdown and spoofing attacks when flying over the Black Sea, in the Kaliningrad region, in the Eastern Mediterranean and near Finland.

“Pilots are advised to monitor the position of aircraft using traditional navigation aids when flying in close proximity to a number of areas, to check the availability of radio equipment that is critical for flight along a given route and landing approach”the letter says.

These recommendations are related to the data of the European aviation regulator about the frequent cases of jamming of GPS signals, as well as their substitution after February 24th. The bulletin of the “EU Aviation Safety Agency” refers to failures that were recorded at various stages of flights near the countries of the Baltic Sea basin, in the Kaliningrad region, in the Black Sea, in the eastern part of Finland, in the region of the eastern Mediterranean, Cyprus, Israel, Syria, Turkey, Lebanon and northern Iraq.

As noted by a source in the Federal Air Transport Agency, the request is advisory in nature, and no response is required from the carriers. He emphasized that nothing would change for passengers when flying without using GPS, since the system is not the main means of navigation.