GPS Signal Mysteriously Disrupted Around Dallas Airports

GPS interference is being reported around the Dallas-Fort Worth Metropolitan Area airports, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The first reports of signal degradation occurred about 24 hours ago.  

“Significant GPS interference being reported by pilots in the Dallas area. Aircraft being rerouted onto non-RNAV arrivals,” the flight tracking website ADS-B Exchange first reported Monday afternoon. 

Significant GPS interference being reported by pilots in the Dallas area. Aircraft being rerouted onto non-RNAV arrivals. Live GPS interference: https://t.co/qBOUrPBN53

— ADS-B Exchange (@ADSBexchange) October 17, 2022

Bloomberg said the “runway at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport has been closed after aviation authorities said GPS signals there aren’t reliable.”  

The FAA said it was investigating GPS signal degradation in the metro area and looking closely to see if this could be due to “possible jamming of the global-positioning system. “

So far, the FAA has found “no evidence of intentional interference.” And airlines have yet to report major disruptions. 

One Twitter user posted a high-resolution map of the GPS interference. The orange and red specs show areas where GPS signal loss is currently being disrupted. 

High resolution map of GPS interference around Dallas Fort Worth/DFW with sectional chart, including data from 2022-10-18 0000Z through 1600Z. It can be tricky to interpret a higher res map because you might start to see effects of individual aircraft, flight routes and altitudes pic.twitter.com/iSVE7nNlu5

— John Wiseman (@lemonodor) October 18, 2022

The cause of the disruption is unknown.