How electronic warfare is sowing confusion in cockpits | CNN

It’s a command that should only be heard in a disaster movie or flight simulator. But pilots and aviation experts say such warnings have been increasingly sparking alarm in cockpits as bogus signals from global positioning satellites hit commercial flights. The disruption of GPS signals has become endemic in conflict zones, including the region now impacted by the Iran war, affecting planes on routes that skirt hot spots for military activity in the Middle East, Baltic Sea and Black Sea. In cases of GPS interference, an airplane’s ground proximity warning system may lock onto a false signal, triggering unsettling warnings even though the plane is flying at a safe altitude. “I have fellow pilots that encounter this on a regular basis. That’s the true danger. It’s becoming normalized,” said Captain Ron Hay, president of the International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations, which represents over 160,000 pilots in more than 70 countries. Hay, who works for Delta Air Lines, said he feared that pilots might lose trust in critical safety systems as they become desensitized to these warnings. In addition to harrowing phantom pull up commands, flights encountering the