Legitimate security concern: Failed radios
 

Just listening to JFK Tower over the past few hrs (decided it'd be fun with the tornado warning) and an interesting problem appeared. It appears an aircraft radio got stuck transmitting for 10+ minutes. During that whole time the tower channel was virtually useless.

A couple observations:
1) Why is any aviation 2-way radio allowed to transmit for that long without interruption? Every 2-way radio I've used has either a 60 or 90 second timeout.

2) How about some sort of priority-tone-key system? I think tower should have priority no matter what. Several 2-way radio systems I've used have had a transmit-lockout that won't let you step on someone else, and some systems where priority users transmitting immediately kicks off any other people transmitting.

3) What a security hole! What's to stop some jerk from firing up a few transmitters near an airport and block the frequencies? I know I've come across broadcast band FM transmitters and some CATV systems which spill over into the aircraft freqs, but that's not a targeted attack.

4) Audio quality is pathetic on some aircraft. For $30M, I'd expect a better radio. It seems like most of the Airbus aircraft have good quality audio with no interference from the engines/alternators. Hit-or-miss from everything else. Also, no automatic gain control? Some of the 2-way FRS radios families use now even have automatic gain on their mics. I know there's different headsets in use, but still...

Welcome to beaucracy and reality! This where the real issues are never disclosed and the ones that are a "problem" are met with billions of wasted dollars.

And it's been that way for years. I could tell some stories....

It all comes down to airlines not wanting to spend a penny more than they absolutely have to on radio systems.... and FAA certification requirements that drive the cost of design/implementation of even small additional features through the roof. The airlines (and their mouthpiece the FAA) have fought FM broadcasters for years and years instead of installing $1 worth of components in radios to filter out FM transmissions.

In a word, ROI. Well, three words.

Stuck mics happen regularly, mostly on smaller planes. There have been isolated instances of 'rogue' transmissions on airport frequencies, but so far it is not a widespread issue much less a legitimate security concern. Like everything else with the FAA and the airlines it would take a major disaster for anything to be done; actually for anything to be talked about being done.

It's not something I lose sleep over.

Blocking is less of a threat than malicious clearances. Rogue but well-articulated commands to land can be easily countermanded by the controllers, but a bunch of rogue commands to go-around would throw a lot of aluminum onto missed approach vectors that aren't meant to hold so many aircraft. THEN you block the frequencies. Repeat that 4-5 times a day at 4-5 major airports and chaos ensues. What countermeasure could the FAA immediately deploy? Certainly not digital encryption on the radios? No, what they would do is what general aviation pilots fall back on in the face of massive radio or electrical failure: cell phones. The pilots closest to landing may go around, but the rest are told to call the approach or high-altitude center controller's land lines. Of course, a coordinated attack by the bad guys could easily overwhelm those phone numbers, but I'm sure DHS has a task force working on this threat right now. If not now, then as soon as they read this thread and figure out it's a credible threat. :rolleyes:

Given the actions and priority lists of Kip The Phony King Of TSA, that will come some time in 2026.

Tee-hee. Yes, the 'al Qaida gets ideas from FT' gambit. Mind you, it wouldn't surprise me in the least that the DHS does :eek: .

Wirelessly posted (BB8830: BlackBerry8830/4.2.2 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/106)

I figured cheapness was a major factor, but at the same time, where's the pride from whomever Boeing/Airbus get their radios from? It's not like these are Cessna 172's. Filtering IS cheap and comms are essential to handling air traffic.

FWIW, the plane with the stuck mic was a Delta flight, jet. Still gets me that a $30 toy radio has a timeout and the ones in the cockpit don't.

I don't think digital coms/encryption is the answer/solution, but certainly something better than a common channel would be a good start. Even simplex operation's a step in the right direction.

The FAA isn't called the tombstone agency for no reason. Indeed, at some point, somewhere, we'll probably see an aircraft accident that could have been prevented if the radios worked better, if such an accident hasn't already occurred in the past.

Tenerife comes to mind.