British flyers warned they could get caught up in 5G ‘chaos’

British passengers heading to the US tomorrow have been urged to check their bookings for cancellations after American airlines said the nation’s 5G rollout could ground planes.

The CEOs of major US carriers have warned of an impending ‘catastrophic’ crisis when AT&T and Verizon finally deploy their new 5G services from the early hours, with hundreds of flights potentially called off.

The fear among airlines, aircraft manufacturer Boeing and the US Federal Aviation Administration is that the new 5G network could interfere with vital aircraft instruments that are on a similar wavelength. 

This includes altimeters, which tell pilots their altitude as they fly in low visibility. Any false readings could confuse them as they approach the runway in poor visibility conditions, with potentially disastrous results.

This is not seen as a problem in Britain or Europe, with the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority, Ofcom and EU Aviation Safety Authority all insisting there is no evidence 5G is a problem.

In Europe, 5G networks run on a different frequency to the US, which is seen as less likely to affect altimeters than the one used across the pond.

An aviation expert who did not want to be named told MailOnline: ‘Most of Europe and the rest of the world have 3.2-3.8GHz usage in the 5G spectrum.

‘But the US within the spectrum goes up to 3.9GHz to 4.1-4.2GHz. 

‘Altimeters on planes are in the 4.4GHz range, so there’s more chance of potential interference with the 5G spectrum in the US.’

Travel expert Paul Charles said: ‘There’s no evidence of any problems in other countries including the UK of 5G interfering with aircraft safety systems, so I think it’s a case of American airlines needing more education before 5G can be rolled out

‘But from a passenger point of view, the advice is to plan your trip as normal and check for any cancellations.’

UK carriers including British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have not said if they expect their services to be affected. 

The fear among airlines, aircraft manufacturer Boeing and the US Federal Aviation Administration is that the new 5G network could interfere with vital aircraft instruments that are on a similar wavelength, such as altimeters

The CEOs of some of America’s largest airlines wrote to federal officials on Monday warning about the potential negative effects of 5G

Today British authorities all played down the issue, with a spokesman for the CAA saying: ‘We are aware of reports that suggest that the frequency band being used for 5G in a number of countries could potentially pose a risk of interference with aircraft radio altimeters.

‘There have been no reported incidents of aircraft systems being affected by 5G transmissions in UK airspace, but we are nonetheless working with Ofcom and the Ministry of Defence to make sure that the deployment of 5G in the UK does not cause any technical problems for aircraft.’

Ofcom said: ‘We’re aware that the aviation sector is looking at this; we’ve done our own technical analysis and are yet to see any evidence that would give us cause for concern.’

Gareth Elliott, Head of Policy and Communications at Mobile UK, said the networks were ‘coordinating with the aviation authorities’ to ensure there was ‘no interference in the UK’. 

The US airline CEOs claimed in their letter that interference to aeroplanes’ altimeters could result in ‘more than 1,100 flights and 100,000 passengers would be subjected to cancellations, diversions or delays.’

Other planes could be grounded permanently because the altimeter provides signals to their mandated safety features. 

Action is urgent, they added in the letter, writing: ‘To be blunt, the nation´s commerce will grind to a halt.’ 

It was signed by the chief executives of American Airlines, JetBlue Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and Southwest Airlines, as well as officials from FedEx Express and UPS Airlines. 

Verizon and AT&T have since agreed to push back the launch of their new service from January 4, but it is now set to debut on Wednesday.

When that happens, the airline CEOs warned federal officials on Monday, a significant number of widebody aircrafts will become unusable and  ‘could potentially strand tens of thousands of Americans overseas.’

‘Unless our major hubs are cleared to fly, the vast majority of the traveling and shipping public will essentially be grounded,’ the CEOs wrote.

‘The harm that will result from deployment on January 19 is substantially worse than we anticipated for two key reasons,’ they explained.

For one, they said, even though the FAA announced it had cleared for use two radar altimeters used in some Boeing and Airbus jets so they could perform low-visibility landings at many airports where 5G C-band will be deployed, the list did not include many large airports.

Additionally, they argued, because radio altimeters provide critical information to other safety and navigation systems in modern aeroplanes, multiple modern safety systems ‘will be deemed unusable.’

‘Aeroplane manufacturers have informed us that there are huge swaths of the operating fleet that may need to be indefinitely grounded.’ 

‘The ripple effects across both passenger and cargo operations, our workforce and the broader economy are simply incalculable,’ the CEOs wrote as they asked officials ‘that 5G be implemented everywhere in the country except within the approximate 2 miles of airport runways’ at some key airports.

‘Immediate intervention is needed to avoid significant operational disruption to air passengers, shippers, supply chain and delivery of needed medical supplies.’

The carriers added they urge action to ensure ‘5G is deployed except when towers are too close to airport runways until the FAA can determine how that can be safely accomplished without catastrophic disruption.’ 

The letter, which was obtained by DailyMail.com, went to White House National Economic Council director Brian Deese, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, FAA Administrator Steve Dickson and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel.

Airlines for America, the group that organized the letter, declined to comment. The government agencies did not immediately comment. 

Modern planes, like the one seen here, contain altimeters, which measures altitude and allows pilots to fly when visibility is limited 

US airlines claim 5G can render radar altimeters unreliable. Pictured is a Verizon 5G tower going up in Utah 

AT&T and Verizon, which won nearly all of the C-Band spectrum in an $80 billion auction last year, on January 3 agreed to buffer zones around 50 airports to reduce interference risks and take other steps to cut potential interference for six months. 

They also agreed to delay deployment for two weeks until Wednesday, temporarily averting an aviation safety standoff.

The CEOs of major airlines and Boeing Chief Executive Dave Calhoun held a lengthy call with Buttigieg and Dickson on Sunday to warn of the looming crisis, officials told Reuters.

But the issue doesn’t just affect aeroplanes – they could also have a negative effect on the nation’s helicopters, including lifesaving medevac choppers.

Under US law, all commercial helicopters must have a working altimeter in order to fly. Without them, officials warn, landing in remote areas or on hospital landing pads will be near impossible.

Helicopter Association International petitioned the FAA in October asking for medevacs to be exempt from the law when 5G rolls out, and the FAA granted it last week for areas where 5G C-Band interference could affect the radio altimeter.