GPS spoofing shows two Pakistan-bound flights landing in India
Both Qatar Airways aircraft landed safely at Karachi and Islamabad on schedule, and the paper attributed the errors to corrupted positioning data rather than any diversion.
Two Qatar Airways flights bound for Pakistan appeared on public flight-tracking platforms as having landed in India after satellite positioning data used by those services was corrupted, according to a Daily Times report. Both aircraft landed normally at their intended destinations, and aviation sources quoted by the paper said neither flight was diverted.
Tracking data for Qatar Airways flight QR-604, from Doha to Karachi, showed the aircraft landing at Amritsar in India, the report said. Tracking for QR-632, from Doha to Islamabad, registered an arrival at Cochin. The paper attributed the discrepancy to GPS spoofing, in which manipulated location signals are broadcast, rather than to any change in the flights' actual routing.
Aviation sources told Daily Times that the errors originated in corrupted satellite positioning data picked up by public tracking software. Both flights landed safely at Karachi and Islamabad on schedule, the paper reported.
The report linked the interference to military tensions across the Middle East. According to Daily Times, signal jamming and spoofing tend to increase during high-level military mobilisations, when manipulated location data is broadcast to complicate the tracking of naval and aerial assets. Tracking platforms have recorded intermittent position errors across regional corridors as a result.
On board, the paper said, navigation was not affected. Pilots use redundant ground-based instruments, and air traffic control maintains continuous radar contact with aircraft inside national airspace. Glitches on public tracking software do not compromise control of an aircraft, according to the report.
The interference has also been logged at sea. Daily Times reported that cargo vessels and tankers near regional choke points recorded similar positioning errors, and that maritime safety agencies advised captains to rely on manual radar navigation while transiting the area. Airlines have been adjusting routings to avoid the worst-affected corridors where possible, and technical teams expect satellite data transmission to return to normal once military activity subsides, the paper said.
Separately, Profit by Pakistan Today reported that oil prices had reached a five-month high on Middle East tensions.
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