Aircraft 'Lost' During a Geomagnetic Storm

A new study published in Space Weather suggests that flying during an extreme geomagnetic storm may not be a great idea. During the superstorm of May 10-13, 2024, disturbances in Earth’s ionosphere disrupted GPS tracking systems for airplanes flying over Europe. Some planes briefly appeared hundreds of kilometers from their true locations.

Researchers Erik Schmölter and Jens Berdermann of the German Aerospace Center analyzed more than 700 million ADS-B messages from 18,000 aircraft. ADS-B messages are short radio broadcasts sent by aircraft about once per second, reporting their GPS-derived positions. Air traffic controllers and nearby aircraft use them for real-time tracking. The superstorm caused significant position errors for days.

The problem was especially acute on May 11th when the sun hit Earth with an X5.8-class solar flare. Intense solar X-ray and radio emission caused direct interference with GPS signals on the sunlit side of Earth. As many as 53% of satellite-receiver links failed at latitudes south of ~50° N.

In the map, right, red dots mark the location of 169 aircraft during the X-flare. ADS-B messages reported that these aircraft abruptly "jumped" off course during the flare. In fact, they were still flying normally

Fortunately, there were no mishaps. Aviation safety is built on layers, and ADS-B is only one of them. Conventional radar surveillance remained available around airports, and pilots retained full control of their aircraft. In most cases, they could simply look out the window and see exactly where they were. Stronger and longer storms could cause more problems, though.

Confused? So were the GPS receivers. Read the original study here.