Qantas Group aircraft have experienced interference on VHF from stations purporting to represent the Chinese Military in the western Pacific and South China Sea.
In a note issued by the Carrier's Flight Operations Department on Thursday, pilots were informed the interference had been detected in the western Pacific and South China Sea.
“In addition, Group aircraft have experienced GPS jamming suspected to originate from warships operating off the North West Shelf of Australia,” the note read.
However , the Australian flag carrier has assured the pilots that there had been “no safety events reported that relate to this activity”.
The policy update informed pilots that the flights had both encountered hostile actions, sometimes very close to Australia, but that safety had not been compromised. Pilots were issued directives on what to do if they encountered the highlighted interference.
VHF (very high frequency) covers radio waves at frequencies 30 to 300MHz and has multiple radio communication uses.
“Should flight crew experience this interference they should continue to track via their assigned clearance and report the interference to the controlling ATC authority,” the advice read.
“An Intelex Report must be submitted providing details of the event or any other unusual activity after landing.”
The International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA) also released a statement revealing it had been “made aware of some airlines and military aircraft” being called over certain VHF (very high frequency) numbers “by military warships in the Pacific region, notably South China Sea, Philippine Sea, East of Indian Ocean”.
“In some cases, the flights were provided vectors to avoid the airspace over the warship.”
The IFALPA said it had reason to believe there might be interferences to Global Navigation Satellite Systems and Radio Altimeter systems too.
“IFALPA is engaging with the International Air Transport Association and Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs) to ensure that all parties are aligned with our procedures and to prevent this from occurring in the future,” the statement read.
The international Pilots' body recommended that pilots should not respond to the interferences and immediately report them to the controlling agency.
In another development, same week of Qantas incident , Australia has announced a landmark deal to buy American nuclear submarines under the AUKUS contract.
