Following the rollout of C-band 5G across the US, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued a new Airworthiness Directive (AD) for Boeing 737 aircraft. There are warnings in this directive that C-band 5G transmissions could potentially hinder Boeing 737s landing operations. However, the warning applies to very few airports at the moment. It does not apply to landings at airports where C-band 5G has not yet been deployed, and airports where the FAA has determined that aircraft radio altimeters are “safe and reliable in a 5G C-band environment.”
The FAA plans to issue Air Missions Notices (NOTAMS) that an affected aircraft’s radio altimeter is unreliable. Previously, the agency had identified a total of 87 airports with low-vision approaches that required pilots to use altimeter control during landing.
The FAA’s warning is because many of the systems on Boeing’s 737 aircraft use the radio altimeter to function properly, and the altimeter has the potential to be affected by 5G signals. These include automatic acceleration, ground clearance alert, thrust reversers and the Traffic Collision Avoidance System.
Approximately 2,442 aircraft are affected in the United States and 8,342 aircraft worldwide. Therefore, it seems inevitable that some problems will occur in air travel…
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