Finnair’s taking a breather for a month from flying into Tartu, Estonia, all because of some GPS hiccups. Yep, not just one, but two flights got rerouted. Those planes flying out from Helsinki, Finland, couldn’t stick their landings in Tartu, Estonia.
GPS is usually the go-to for planes, helping them land smoothly without relying on radio signals. But Estonia’s pointing fingers at Russia, suspecting they’re messing with the GPS.
Estonia’s pretty sure Russia’s tampering with GPS gadgets in its airspace. But they haven’t come up with solid proof yet.
“That way, we can figure out other ways to land at Tartu Airport without needing GPS signals,” Finnair explained.
This isn’t the first time folks have noticed GPS acting up. But it’s been getting worse since 2022. Finnair pilots reporting near Russia’s Kaliningrad on the Eastern Mediterranean, the Black Sea, the Baltic coast, and the Caspian Sea.
“Usually, these GPS glitches don’t mess with flight paths or safety since pilots are on it, and we’ve got backup systems for when GPS goes haywire,” Finnair assured.
Early in April, Germany started pointing fingers at Russia for causing navigation troubles in the Baltic. The German Ministry of Defense hinted that Kaliningrad might be the source but didn’t spill the beans, citing military security reasons.