2 Finnair flights fail to land at Tartu Airport due to GPS disruptions

Two flights of the national flag carrier Finnair failed to land at Tartu airport in Estonia due to Global Positioning System (GPS) interference and had to return to Helsinki Airport early Friday and early Saturday, local media in Estonia and Finland reported.

Estonian Broadcasting Corporation ERR, quoting a passenger of the flight on Saturday said that the plane turned back about 15 minutes before the landing and returned to Helsinki Airport and same incident also happened on the previous day.

According to the passenger, the pilot said that landing at Tartu at night needs an accurate GPS signal, which was not available there, said the ERR report.

The flight from Helsinki to Tartu on Friday daytime, however, was landed accordingly and also departed from Tartu to Helsinki usually.

Finnair spokesperson Päivyt Tallqvist told the Finnish national broadcaster Yle that GPS interference is a relatively common phenomenon, and it does not usually warrant flights turning back.

Tallqvist also said that airports generally use multiple systems for approach and do not rely on GPS signals only, but Tartu Airport is one of the few airports that has no other systems.