Widerøe plane forced to abort landing at Vardø airport due to GPS interference
A Widerøe Dash-8 plane travelling from Vadsø to Vardø in Norway's northeastern-region could not land because of jamming of the GPS system. A major Russian military exercise is underway just a few tens of kilometres further east.
When there are low skies with low visibility, pilots depend on GPS signals to ensure safe landings at the smaller airports in northern Norway.
An NRK broadcaster was first to report that on Tuesday skies were low over Vardø at the same time as GPS signals were lost.
“This combination could jeopardise safety when we are about to land,” said head of communication in Widerøe, Catharina Solli to NRK.
Consequently, the Dash-8 aircraft had to abort and instead continue to Båtsfjord, the next destination along the coast of Finnmark.
Norway has several airports in the areas bordering Russia's Kola Peninsula where jamming and spoofing have caused trouble for many years.
Such jamming comes from dedicated Russian military vehicles emitting high-power radio signals, blocking satellite communications and navigation systems.
Over the last few days, Russia's military forces have conducted major war games on the western shores of the Sredny Peninsula, with sight of Vardø across the Varanger fjord.
The military exercise is part of the larger strategic Zapad-2025 happening along the western borders of Russia and Belarus in the period of September 12-16.
