The risk of a geomagnetic storm to planes is minimal provided the aircraft has enough fuel to cope with a longer route, a Hong Kong aircrew organisation has said after a Cathay flight was diverted due to the space weather event.
A geomagnetic storm is a disturbance of the Earth’s magnetic field triggered by solar activity from the sun, which could cause refracted or scattered radio waves that may affect the global navigation satellite system and the technology’s precision as well as reliability.
The flight eventually landed in Hong Kong at 10.27pm on Thursday, taking 17 hours and 17 minutes for the journey from New York, which was one hour and 42 minutes longer than expected.
In a reply to the Post, the pilot union said most airlines monitor the radiation caused by solar events on passengers, crew and aircraft systems, and the earth’s magnetic field deflection would shield off most radiation.
But the protection would be reduced in areas near the poles, it added.
