Police hunt for radio hoaxers
27.01.10
Radio hoaxers are risking lives by posing as flight crew and sending bogus messages to air traffic controllers at Leeds Bradford Airport. A police investigation has been launched to catch the illegal broadcasters, who have been using specialist equipment – and specific airline call signs – to disrupt the work of controllers who manage planes landing or taking off from the airport.
There have been two incidents reported to police by airport staff since Christmas, both raising safety concerns. A spokesman for Leeds Bradford Airport said: ‘These people must think they are having a laugh but it is a very juvenile and immature act and the consequences could be so devastating, you cannot imagine.’
The spokesman said that, although air traffic controllers were aware of all of the planes’ flight paths, the hoax broadcasts cause danger by distracting the controller and, if they were to take the messages seriously, cause them to move other planes, increasing the possibility of aircraft colliding.
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