Flights from India to the United States resumed on Thursday as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) allowed more planes to land even in low-visibility conditions despite the rollout of C-band 5G technology.

Following the announcement, Air India resumed flights from India to the United States, with the first flight to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport taking off in the morning. On Jan. 14, the FAA warned that new 5G technology from AT&T and Verizon could interfere with airborne instruments such as radar altimeters in the allocated 3.7-3.98 GHz (gigahertz) frequency band.

Commercial passenger and cargo airlines have also warned of an impending “catastrophic” aviation crisis if the rollout of 5G goes as planned.

Earlier on Wednesday, AI announced that “due to the deployment of 5G communications in the United States”, it will not operate eight Indo-US flights on the same day in areas such as Derry-New York, Derry-Chicago, Derry-San Francisco.

In addition to AI, U.S.-based American Airlines and Delta Air Lines operate direct flights between the two countries. Those airlines also cancelled flights on Wednesday.

The deployment of 5G by AT&T and Verizon, the two largest U.S. wireless communication service providers, has raised concerns among airlines, who say the telcos are using frequencies very close to those used by airborne instruments, such as radar altimeters, which operate in the 4.2-4.4 GHz range . As with all airborne vehicles—airplanes, spacecraft, and even missiles—altimeters are critical for measuring altitude and distance covered.

There are three main types of altimeters: barometric, laser, and radio or radar altimeters. Most commercial airliners and freighters use a combination of all these altimeters and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) to determine their paths, as well as things such as altitude, the presence of tall buildings, mountains and other obstacles, and likely flight time.

A radio or radar altimeter is a very small, low-power radar system operating in the microwave C-band at frequencies 4.2-4.4 GHz. The high frequencies of these altimeters allow aircraft manufacturers to install small antennas that generate powerful signals that can be relayed quickly and accurately. Why is there a special focus on radar altimeter jamming in the US?

While 5G rollouts by telecom service providers have drawn attention from the aviation industry everywhere, the situation is dire in the U.S., which auctions 3.7-3.98 GHz of 5G bandwidth in the C-band spectrum in 2021. Airlines have complained that this band is very close to the 4.2-4.4 GHz range where radio or radar altimeters work.

Complete News Source : The IndianEXPRESS