Source : THE AGE NEWS
A number of Jetstar’s new Airbus planes have suffered a fault in their navigation system, prompting the cancellation and delay of flights over the past 24 hours, the company said.
The problem affecting the Global Positioning System (GPS), which has happened just days after the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued a warning about solar flare activity, forced the cancellation of a Melbourne-Bali flight on Wednesday.
That cancellation caused subsequent delays of flights to Bali, Fiji and Hobart from Australia’s east coast on Thursday.
A Jetstar plane in Sydney.Credit: SMH
The aircraft received a fault message with their GPS “requiring the system to be reset before the flight departs”, a Jetstar spokesperson said, which caused “a small number of disruptions to flights”.
“Engineers have inspected the aircraft and have determined the multiple aircraft GPS systems continue to operate and transmit signals,” Jetstar said.
“There has been minimal impact to our operation, and we thank our customers for their patience if they have experienced any delays while engineers conduct system resets.”
While the exact cause of the system fault, was unconfirmed, astronomers have warned of increased solar storms in the next days and weeks, as an active part of the sun rotates into view.
On May 20, the NOAA issued a warning about solar flare activity adding it “can cause interference for sensitive receivers including radar, GPS, and satellite communications”.
While all the Jetstar planes involved were Airbus A320 Neos and A321 Neos, which are among the newest in the airline’s fleet, the GPS fault has reportedly also occurred on planes globally, including Boeing.
More to come
