Near airport 5G service is paused
by major telecom companies
Concerns over aircraft safety has the FAA and airlines calling for a solution
BY JEFF YAPALATER
Since over 2 months ago
when the potential perils of 5G
transmission signals were disclosed
and considered to be
threat to aircraft aviation, the
major carriers such as Verizon
and AT&T have temporarily put a
hold on the release of these signals
to towers near airfields in
the NY airport areas. After President
Biden weighed in on the 5G
safety issue, both companies
said they would launch 5G service,
but they will delay turning
on 5G cell towers within a 2-mile
radius of runways designated by
federal officials. They did not say
how long they would keep those
towers idle.
Due to the potential impact
on airlines at JFK Airport, both
TFAC and Kaamco invited representatives
Jose Ruiz Llorente
and Noppadol Pringvanich from
the
International Air Transport
Association (IATA) to speak on
the controversy. Much of the presentations
were fairy technical
but it boiled down to IATA believing
that the interests of big
business were larger than the
concerns for safety as the large
telecoms rushed to get their signal
out in the public use. Apparently
the discussion about 5G
and its impacts were brought to
light four years ago but only recently
when deployment was imminent
did the FAA bring its concerns
to the public.
Why many asked, why was
5G able to operate in Europe
rather than here in the states?
According to IATA, the signal
strength is lower there so safer.
Both signal strength and direction
of the actual antenna can be
major factors in potential danger
to aircraft altimeters when approaching
airports. It is claimed
that 5G can disrupt the signal
and possible cause a crash especially
in low visibility when
the human pilot cannot see the
ground.
Defending the airline industry
concerns, the Airlines for America’s
(A4A) petition outlined 35
airports where it asked for 5G
service to be halted, citing consequences
from C-band deployment
such as the need to reroute
or cancel thousands of airline
flights, dislocate millions of passengers
and crews and potential
economic losses estimated at
more than $1 billion.
AIRPORT V 12 OICE, FEBRUARY 2022
The Port Authority is affected
by the reduction to flights due
to its revenue from airline fees.
It stated, “The Port Authority is
in active communication with
its airline partners and federal
agencies with respect to the rollout
of 5G technology and is prepared
to provide any assistance
requested to resolve concerns
quickly and to avoid safety issues,
disruptions, and reductions
in service.”
Initially when the 5G news
broke out there was scrambling
by airlines to make sure their
older altimeters would not be
affected. According to one senior
airiine manager, because
of the low season for flying overseas,
some airlines are able to
use other aircraft that meet the
criteria for safety yet others are
having some difficulty. But with
the reduced number of flights
due to covid, the 5G issue is not
overwhelming now since so few
flights internationally. When the
number of flights picks up and
there is a fewer number of aircraft
to swap and the telecoms
decide to go forward, there may
be more of an issue.
Aiport Towers
At JFK Airport there are dozens
of cell towers within the airport
campus. These towers
transmit signals form a variety
of telecoms providing service to
cell phones. These towers can
be large or small, and even be
found in terminals and hotels in
and around the airports. One
telecom repairperson so works
on networks said that the angle
and power of these towers in important.
Antenna should not be
pointed towards active runways.
In a brief ride around the airport it
seemed that most of the antenna
were pointed away. Cell antenna
can be seen from the tops of hotels
and other building on the approach
to JFK runaways. Are all
these properly pointed away from
the flight paths and more than 2
miles away?
FAA responses
The FAA had warned that Cband
5G expansion and potential
for radio altimeter interference
and certain low-visibility landings
can’t be performed in the presence
of 5G signals on aircraft
at risk of interference. “We continue
to work in good faith with
the wireless companies to identify
a long-term solution that will
minimize disruption for both industries.
We have not set a timeline
for this engagement to conclude.
Because the proposed
5G deployments involves a new
combination of power levels, frequencies,
proximity to flight operations,
and other factors, the FAA
must impose restrictions on flight
operations using certain types of
radio altimeter equipment close
to antennas in 5G networks.
In response, the FAA has reviewed
the altimeters of many
aircraft flying in our skies to determne
which ones are not impacted
by 5G signals. The FAA
said as many as 82% of aircraft
at JFK and EWR were equipped
with altimeters that were shielded
from 5G and weren’t subject to
flight restrictions. To address the
broad issue impending issue and
keep the skies safe for the airlines,
the FAA is issuing Airworthiness
Directive in this 5 G matter
through Alternative Method
of of Compliance (AMOC). Although
Verizon and AT&T have
agreed to keep transmission towers
turned off at approximately
78 airports where those towers
are within 2 miles of affected
runways, those airports may still
experience operational impacts
from 5G signals. Operators will
need an alternate means of compliance
(AMOC) for their specific
aircraft and equipment to continue
to operate into airports that
are NOTAM’d.
To further insure safety, there
is talk of keeping airline passenger
off their 5G phones at points
in the flight to minimize signal
disruption with altimeters due
to interactions with cell towers
below the aircraft. Because the
showdown between the FAA
and telecoms and the impact on
aviation, he Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) and
National Telecommunications
and Information Administration
(NTIA) vowed to improve coordination
on spectrum management
after a 5G aviation dispute threatened
flights.
As of this time, the telecoms
have agreed to pause on the rollout.
How long this pause will last
is up in the air.
Small cell tower near Building 83 with
JFK ATC in background.
Cell tower across from North Hangar Road JFK Airport.
It appears some antenna are facing the cargo area.
Cell tower between buliding 14 and hangar 12 JFK Airport. Antenna do not
appear to face bay runway.