FAA issues 5G warning for Boeing 737s

Washington, Feb. 24 (BNA): The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has warned that 5G wireless operations could interfere with the wireless altimeters on Boeing 737 planes, hampering the crew’s ability to fly or land safely, but FAA officials Federalists stressed that this issue is impractical. Impact for airlines.

Despite the terrible language in Wednesday’s FAA airworthiness guidance about the potential impacts on 737 landings, it does not apply to aircraft flying in areas where a 5G environment has become a safe-to-fly environment, which the FAA said includes nearly all airports.

Agency officials said Wednesday that the vast majority of commercial airports have either set up 5G wireless buffer zones around them or lack 5G operations altogether, meaning that planes landing there are protected from radio interference that FAA guidance has warned about.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the guidance published on Wednesday for most Boeing 737 aircraft is very similar to notices previously issued to the 737 Max, as well as the 747, 757, 767 and 777 aircraft, according to Reuters.

Although practically unlikely, Wednesday’s guidance warns that some aircraft systems may not operate properly “during approach, landing and turning” due to interference with radio altimeters from wireless broadband operations in the frequency band. 3.7-3.98 GHz (5G C-band).

The guidance said this in turn could lead to “an increased workload for the cabin crew while approaching the flight director, autopilot or autopilot, which could potentially reduce the flight crew’s ability to maintain flight safety and land the aircraft.”

The FAA said the notice affects about 2,400 aircraft in the United States and about 8,300 worldwide.

“We support the airworthiness directive, as it enforces the same guidance that Boeing provided to operators in January,” a Boeing spokesperson said in a statement.

Telecommunications networks are rolling out next-generation 5G systems that the FAA previously warned could affect aircraft’s sensitive electronic devices such as radio altimeters.

The Federal Communications Commission and the National Communications and Information Administration (NITA) have pledged to improve coordination in spectrum management after a dispute over 5G aviation.

The spectrum was introduced in January, but only after Verizon Communications and AT&T agreed to delay the deployment of 5G wireless towers near airports.

HF