Technical Glitch and GPS Spoofing Disrupt Over 350 Flights at Delhi Airport
Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport faced major flight disruptions due to a malfunction in its Air Traffic Control messaging system coupled with GPS spoofing incidents. Over 350 flights were delayed as manual flight planning was enforced to maintain safety. The issue originated in the Automatic Message Switching System and was resolved after authorities deployed technical teams and manual processes.
On a recent Friday morning, Delhi’s busiest airport, Indira Gandhi International Airport, experienced significant operational disruption when its Air Traffic Control (ATC) messaging system malfunctioned simultaneously with GPS spoofing attacks over the city’s airspace. This breakdown affected the airport’s Automatic Message Switching System (AMSS), critical for processing flight plan information. Due to the failure, flight plans could not be processed automatically, forcing air traffic control to switch to manual procedures to maintain safety. As a result, more than 350 flights were delayed throughout the day. The Airports Authority of India promptly convened a high-level review meeting and worked with the Original Equipment Manufacturer and electronics experts to identify and fix the root cause. Additional personnel were deployed to manually process flight plans. The system was restored to normal functioning within the day, though some residual delays persisted due to backlogged data. The civil aviation ministry and airport authorities expressed regret for the inconvenience and reaffirmed their commitment to operational safety and service reliability. The incident raised concerns about cybersecurity and resilience of automated air traffic systems in critical infrastructure. The interplay of technical failure and GPS spoofing highlighted vulnerabilities requiring ongoing vigilance and response readiness in aviation operations.
