The Embraer E175 ends up being the one to suffer in the confusion over the restriction to use aircraft at airports with a 5G network.
The Brazilian-developed aircraft is the absolute leader in sales in the North American regional market and the backbone of the regional subsidiaries of large companies such as American, Delta and United.
The arrival of the 5G signal from operators AT&T and Verizon brought fears of possible interference of the signal from the new high-speed mobile network with the aircraft’s altimeter, which has a frequency range very close to that used by these operators.
The Boeing 777 was even “banned” from flying in the United States for almost a day by some companies, including LATAM Brazil, while the 787 Dreamliner and Airbus were given the go-ahead to operate normally, but with caution.
Whereas the large jets received attention, regional aircraft were left for further examination, hurting the operations of the companies that operate them.
“We’ve been left out of an important aviation debate,” Faye Malarkey, CEO of the U.S. Regional Airline Association, told FlightGlobal magazine.
Several NOTAMs (notices to pilots) were issued about radio altimeter use at airports. The FAA states that 78% of the U.S. fleet has some type of authorization that allows it to operate at air terminals even with these restrictive notices.
Authorized aircraft include the Boeing 717, 737, 747, 747, 757, 767, 777, 787, the McDonnell Douglas MD-10 and MD-11, the Airbus A300, A310, A319, A320, A321, A330, A340, A350, and A380, and only a few Embraer E170s and E190s.”
According to Faye, Embraer aircraft have mostly been cleared to operate at restricted airports, but operators are still analyzing the requirements to implement them.
Although the U.S. authorities only mention the E170 and E190, the Brazilian manufacturer explained to FlightGlobal that the NOTAM exemption applies to all first-generation E-Jet family models: E170, E175, E190, and E195.
California diversions:
Based on what was reported by our Brazilian partner Aeroin, due to the uncertainty of the supposed authorization, some flights operated by the Embraer E175 had to be diverted to San Francisco, in northern California.
Currently, there is a NOTAM corresponding to the airport indicating the possibility of instability of the radio altimeter for ILS landing, of the HUD (screens located at the pilots’ eye level), and of the synthetic vision systems, which are functions that help a lot in the arrival when there is low visibility. The warning even includes that of helicopters, something that is not so common to see.
That is why, last January 20, two aircraft operated by SkyWest for United and Alaska Airlines were supposed to land at San Francisco airport and were re-routed to Reno, on the Nevada border, and to San Jose, south of the San Francisco Bay.
SkyWest Airlines, a third party operating on behalf of United Express and Horizon Air, owned by Alaska Airlines, included in a statement.
The regional carrier also explained that it “will process as soon as possible the FAA’s proposed changes to mitigate the use of 5G with E175s, especially in low visibility conditions.”
“We are hopeful that the FAA will soon create additional mitigation for the rest of our fleet. The potential for impact on operations continues until a full solution is made for all aircraft in commercial operation,” he completed.
