A commercial transatlantic flight experienced significant disruptions due to GPS jamming, marking the first known instance of such an incident on this route.
According to an X (formerly Twitter) account specializing in open-source and signals intelligence (OSINT and SIGINT) analysis and confirmed by the Resilient Timing and Navigation Foundation (RNTF), a flight from Madrid to Toronto was forced to operate in a “degraded mode” because a higher-altitude flight had been affected by GPS interference.
RNTF, a nonprofit organization focused on enhancing GPS security, responded to the incident, emphasizing the potential widespread impact if GPS jamming becomes a regular issue over the Atlantic. The organization warned that “thousands of flights a day could be impacted with delays and cancellations.”
RNTF assessed that the aircraft experiencing jamming likely originated from regions with known high levels of GPS interference, such as the Baltic or Middle East. It was suggested that one of the aircraft's GPS receivers had not recovered from earlier jamming by the time it entered the Shanwick Oceanic Control Zone.
At present, the cause of the GPS disturbances has not yet been identified. The Institute for the Study of War, a think tank that monitors global conflicts, previously reported that it observed high levels of GPS jamming over Poland and the Baltic region since late 2023. Some analysts and experts have attributed these incidents to Russian electronic warfare (EW) activity from the Kaliningrad area and near St. Petersburg, Russia.
