Drone Show Sinks, Literally

[Torque]

My neighboring suburb's drone show had GPS problems while flying over Angle Lake. The 55 missing drones are with the fish now.

City of SeaTac Releases Statement on Fourth of July Drone Show

The City of SeaTac’s 2024 Family Fourth of July celebration offered many successful festivities, including live entertainment, safe swimming supervised by a team of lifeguards, free kids’ activities, and more: with thousands of residents and visitors enjoying the holiday at Angle Lake Park.

cityofseatac.wordpress.com

 

[Rchawks]

My wife just asked what they look like, possibly in the thousand dollar range? 55 lost drones = $$$$$$

 

[GFields]

Ouch! That hurt their pocket book

 

[SWTSU]

Hope they had State Farm insurance. That sucks.

 

[MS Coast]

If they posted the flight logs here, I'm willing to bet that our own expert analysts could root out the problem.

(Not bragging; I'm not among that group.)

 

[GregS]

GPS around the country is having problems. A real problem with Airlines. They are getting info in the cockpit saying they are on course, and ATC tells them they are way off course.
We will hear more problems like this.
GPS is being hacked. I think we all know who is doing it too!

 

[GregS]

Correction: GPS in the Western Countries is being hacked. Been a problem for some time. It's getting worse now.

GPS Is Easy to Hack, and the U.S. Has No Backup

At risk are airliners, electric grids, stock markets and other systems that rely on GPS to time their operations

www.scientificamerican.com

 

[chadCO]

Solar flare activity in 2024 was particularly strong, with a series of large solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) occurring between May 10–14. These events were triggered by the sunspot group AR3664 and caused a geomagnetic storm that reached Earth on May 10, 2024. The storm was the strongest in 20 years and caused visible auroras, as well as affecting air traffic, satellite operations, and GPS-guided farm equipment. No hacking other than what the sun is doing.

 

[JimWest]

GPS around the country is having problems. A real problem with Airlines. They are getting info in the cockpit saying they are on course, and ATC tells them they are way off course.
We will hear more problems like this.
GPS is being hacked. I think we all know who is doing it too!

The New York Times had a good feature on this last week, explaining how GPS works, where its being hacked, and the importance of a backup system: Why GPS Is Under Attack.
It says the main GPS hacking is in conflict zones, understandably. Israel is a big hacker, along with Russia. Less of a problem in the US now, though that could change. The article says other GPS powers are developing backup systems, but not the US.

 

[b52danno]

GPS around the country is having problems. A real problem with Airlines. They are getting info in the cockpit saying they are on course, and ATC tells them they are way off course.
We will hear more problems like this.
GPS is being hacked. I think we all know who is doing it too!

As always, blame it on Trump!

 

[dart106]

GPS around the country is having problems. A real problem with Airlines. They are getting info in the cockpit saying they are on course, and ATC tells them they are way off course.
We will hear more problems like this.
GPS is being hacked. I think we all know who is doing it too!

Do you have specific examples of airline “off course” events? Who do we all know is hacking GPS?

 

[GregS]

Do you have specific examples of airline “off course” events? Who do we all know is hacking GPS?

There are many...here is just one:

FAA Files Reveal a Surprising Threat to Airline Safety: the U.S. Military's GPS Tests

Military tests that jam and spoof GPS signals are an accident waiting to happen

spectrum.ieee.org

 

[dart106]

There are many...here is just one:

FAA Files Reveal a Surprising Threat to Airline Safety: the U.S. Military's GPS Tests

Military tests that jam and spoof GPS signals are an accident waiting to happen

spectrum.ieee.org

As a retired airline pilot, with 21 years in the industry, I’ll call an audible here. Anytime there are GPS jamming tests scheduled, there are NOTAMs issued so airlines can act accordingly. WSMR is one frequent example. I’ve flown dozens of times past and over (with ATC clearance) when GPS testing was ongoing. Our onboard gear would indicate the anticipated degradation or absence of GPS reception. We simply navigated with other onboard equipment and/or ATC vectors as needed. Articles stating “way off course” aircraft are more than likely missing or omitting other issues actually resulting in an airliner being off course.

You still don’t answer, nor does the article link, state who “we all know who is doing it” question.