skyeuropecapt writes:
What I am intrigued about is how easily the pilots accepted and executed such instructions without a sign of doubt.
It has happened that children(england) used some devices to listen and transmit over atc frequencies..So if i ever hear a child giving me instructions in the air and especially on the ground i would enquire into the message given to me..contacting the ATC on 121.5 as a start...
Thanks.
This explains a lot of the outrage over this event.
In the US, it's easy to purchase a VHF transceiver which includes air bands. But our much-hated FCC (Federal Communications Commission) is rather good at tracking down unauthorized spectrum use. We also have a large amateur radio community which also help serve as watchdogs.
Without doubt, this kind of "spoofing" has happened here but I don't think it's been a big problem.
My question is, wouldn't this be sorted out rather quickly?
Using a hand-held, one would have to be fairly close to the tower in order to hear and interfere with ATC direction. A dozen miles at most, or else curvature of the earth cuts in. VHF. Line of sight.
Being able to hear the tower would also mean the tower would certainly be able to hear them - better, more sensitive equipment than a hand-held costing $300.
Even in a fluke instance where geography shielded the spoofer's tx from the tower, wouldn't the read-backs give things away?
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