Robert Besser
20 Jan 2022, 07:44 GMT+10
CHICAGO, Illinois: According to U.S. airline officials, the introduction of a new 5G service could cause U.S. air traffic to "grind to a halt," causing the grounding of many aircraft and stranding "tens of thousands of Americans overseas."
On January 17, Reuters reported that a letter warning of a potential "catastrophic" crisis in aviation was sent to White House National Economic Council director Brian Deese, transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) administrator Steve Dickson and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel.
The letter, signed by the chief executives of American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines and Jet Blue, as well as freight and parcel carriers UPS and FedEx, said, "Unless our major hubs are cleared to fly, the vast majority of the traveling and shipping public will essentially be grounded."
New C-Band 5G technology could interfere with critical airplane instruments, such as radio altimeters, the letter stated, adding, "This means that on a day like yesterday, more than 1,100 flights and 100,000 passengers would be subjected to cancellations, diversions or delays."
Airlines for America, an aviation lobbying group, was responsible for writing the letter.
In an earlier letter dated 4th January, the group thanked Buttigieg, Dickson and Deese for "reaching the agreement with AT&T and Verizon to delay their planned 5G C-band deployment around certain airports for two weeks and to commit to the proposed mitigations."
In line with the agreement dated 3rd January, AT&T and Verizon will create buffer zones around 50 airports in the U.S. to minimize interference for six months.
But the agreement to delay wider implementation of the technology to 19th January is about to expire.
Airlines stressed that "5G be implemented everywhere in the country except within an approximate 2 miles of airport runways" at some key airports.
They also called for ensuring "5G is deployed, except when towers are too close to airport runways, until the FAA can determine how that can be safely accomplished without catastrophic disruption."
The warning follows previous incidents involving Medevac helicopters and aircraft used by hospitals and rescue missions being affected by 5G technology.
According to a Bloomberg report, 5G interference of radio altimeters on emergency helicopters could ground operations, adding that while 5G will not necessarily shut down the altimeter, it could cause it to give false readings.
Get a daily dose of Cambodian Times news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Cambodian Times.
More InformationWASHINGTON D.C.: The US Commerce Department has said that trade ministers from 14 countries have taken part in the US-led ...
LOUISVILLE, Kentucky: Two horses that succumbed to their injuries at Churchill Downs have become the 11th and 12th fatalities over ...
FREMONT, California: Brain implant company Neuralink announced that it has received approval from US regulators to begin human brain implant ...
JEFFERSONVILLE, Indiana: Randy Lankford, owner of Lankford Funeral Home and Family Center in Jeffersonville, Indiana, has pleaded guilty to more ...
DENVER, COLORADO: A federal judge has ruled that a rural Colorado school district can ban a high school student from ...
ZURICH, Switzerland: In one of the largest legal awards ever against Credit Suisse, the bank was ordered to pay $926 ...
Jean Segura hit the tying single in the bottom of the ninth inning and Nick Fortes followed with a walk-off ...
Rookie right-hander Louie Varland recorded the second scoreless start of his career while veteran first baseman Donovan Solano produced a ...
© Provided by Xinhua PARIS, May 31 (Xinhua) -- China's 19th seed Zheng Qinwen lost to Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva in ...
Spencer Steer hit a two-run home run in the seventh inning to help the visiting Cincinnati Reds stretch their winning ...
Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], June 1 (ANI): Rising Indian star Mumtaz Khan spoke candidly about her hockey journey and her expectations ...
Abraham Toro hit a two-run home run and added a single as the visiting Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Toronto Blue ...