Jetstar planes flying again after mysterious GPS fault
Two flights from Australia to Bali were cancelled last week, and others were delayed, after faults in the GPS on Jetstar Airbus A320 Neos and A321 Neos prevented the flights from taking off.
The airline said it understood 'the fault message was caused by a satellite signal issue' that occurred from May 21 to May 23 AEST.
'Currently, this fault is not reoccurring. We continue to monitor closely,' a Jetstar spokesperson said.
GPS, a much-used navigation tool, determines a position by measuring proximity to an array of satellites in orbit. The equipment relies on several satellites to make a location reading.
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Qantas-owned Jetstar said signals sent from the satellites were creating a fault message onboard the planes, which required the systems to be reset, delaying flights or forcing their cancellation.
Airbus, the planes' manufacturer, told this masthead: 'We understand that the fault messages on the aircraft were caused by a satellite signal issue.'
Aircraft navigation systems have numerous GPS units that receive data from different satellite constellations, Airbus said, noting that planes also have inertial reference systems and radio navigation aids.
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