Flights to Reagan National Airport in D.C. received false collision alerts while landing
www.cbsnews.com
The FAA said that several flight crews inbound to the Reagan National Airport reported onboard alerts when no other aircraft were nearby.

Summary

The FAA is investigating multiple false Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) alerts received by flights landing at Washington Reagan National Airport on Saturday.

This follows January’s deadly Black Hawk crash at the airport.

At least five aircraft, including American Eagle flights, reported warnings of unknown descending objects, prompting some to take evasive action. However, no visual confirmation of threats was made.

Experts call the situation unusual, as TCAS is aircraft-based rather than centrally controlled. The issue has not recurred since Saturday morning.

  • Nougat@fedia.io
    602·
    6 days ago

    Someone on the ground has a TCAS transponder and is playing fuck around.

    This is very very very not good.

      • Nougat@fedia.io
        211·
        6 days ago

        TCAS is a system that’s transponder controlled between aircraft, there’s not anything on the ground that needs attention. If there are planes receiving invalid TCAS warnings, it’s because there’s a rogue TCAS transponder out there.

          • Nougat@fedia.io
            4·
            5 days ago

            I’m not sure of the size of the transponder, but what I am reading is that it would require two antennas, one above and one below the aircraft, and I think it runs on 24V, so you’d need a 24V power source.

            Certainly wouldn’t be out of the question for it to be carried by a drone, but I don’t think it would have to be. I’m also now thinking that the drone could carry “enough equipment” to send location data back to a ground controller where the transponder and power equipment is? That would probably be easier to rig up than trying to interface directly with the transponder and give it false data. Though I couldn’t say what the antenna inputs are looking for, that could be an easy interface to fool the TCAS, too.

            My bigger concern is who was able to get their hands on a TCAS and then also has the cohones to fuck with air traffic around National?