Safety concerns: Interference with Lebanon's navigation system causes 'panic' on flight to Beirut

Report by Lara el Hachem, English adaptation by Karine Keuchkerian

Passengers experienced "moments of terror" aboard a plane destined for Beirut via Istanbul. 

Upon entering Lebanese airspace, the pilot was supposed to commence the usual gradual descent for landing on Monday morning, but that proved impossible. 

The pilot circled over Lebanese airspace for forty minutes, but to no avail, forcing a return to Antalya for landing. Passengers waited there for some time before finally landing again in Beirut at seven in the morning on Monday.

These were moments of panic experienced by the passengers due to the interference occurring in Lebanon's navigation system.

Director-General of Civil Aviation Fadi El Hassan clarified to LBCI that this occurred exclusively with two pilots from Turkish Airlines who chose to continue relying on GPS despite the Civil Aviation authority's directive for all airlines to use ground navigation equipment to receive signals, thus avoiding any interference with flight paths due to disturbances occurring in the Middle East, which have increased over Lebanon due to the war in Gaza.

These are the repercussions of cyber-attacks that threaten the safety of civil aviation. The European Aviation Safety Agency issued a warning, prompting Lebanon to implement the required precautions.