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Two Finnish passenger jets are forced to turn around mid-journey due to Russian GPS jamming as Baltic nations warn Moscow's 'hostile' actions are risking an air disaster
Russia is risking an air disaster as it continues GPS jamming, with navigation signal interference forcing two passenger jets to turn around last week, Baltic ministers have warned.
Two Finnair flights from Helsinki to Tartu in Estonia were forced to turn around and return to Finland on Thursday and Friday after they were reportedly unable to navigate safely.
They are just some of the tens of thousands of commercial flights which experts fear have been affected by GPS jamming in recent months.
The European Aviation Safety Agency warned back in January that authorities had seen a 'sharp rise' in jamming and spoofing 'attacks'. They did not say who was behind them, but Russia has been widely blamed.
Estonia's foreign minister Margus Tsahkna described it as 'part of Russia's hostile activities', adding that 'such actions are a hybrid attack and are a threat to our people and security, and we will not tolerate them.'
Two Finnair flights from Helsinki to Tartu in Estonia were forced to turn around and return to Finland (file image)
'If someone turns off your headlights while you're driving at night, it gets dangerous,' Gabrielius Landsbergis, Lithuania's foreign minister, told the Financial Times.
'Things in the Baltic region near Russian borders are now getting too dangerous to ignore,' he added.
Air traffic trackers show a Finnair twin-engine turboprop circling over Estonia before being forced to make the journey back to Helsinki, apparently unable to land at its intended destination, on two consecutive days.
While most large airports have facilities to allow planes to land without GPS, Tartu, Estonia's second-largest city after Tallinn, reportedly requires the navigation signal.
Aviation experts have warned that the chances of an air accident are increasing as attacks on GPS signals continue.
It comes a week after aircraft logs revealed jamming hotspots in the Baltic region, Black Sea and eastern Mediterranean, according to a report in The Sun.
The number of suspected Russian satnav attacks was more than 350 per week last month, researchers claim, a significant increase from the fewer than 50 attacks per week that were recorded last year.
Air traffic trackers show the Finnair twin-engine turboprop circling over Estonia on Thursday
The passenger jet was forced to make a return journey to Helsinki again on Friday after it was unable to land in Tartu
Between August and March, 46,000 flights reportedly logged satellite navigation (satnav) issues over the Baltic region.
Among those were 2,309 Ryanair flights, 1,368 Wizz Air flights, 82 British Airways flights and four EasyJet flights.
Seven planes operated by TUI - which reportedly does not fly in the Baltic - logged satnav issues.
The airline told The Sun its affected planes were 'probably positioning flights without passengers'.
Virgin Atlantic, which does not fly through the region, was the only major UK air carrier not affected by the electronic attacks.
Meanwhile, the UK government confirmed in March that an RAF plane carrying Defence Secretary Grant Shapps had its signal jammed as it flew near to Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave.
Insiders blamed Russia for what they called a 'wildly irresponsible' attack.
Military chiefs have warned over recent months that a system known as Tobol, based in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, could be interfering with signals on planes and boats, causing them to 'malfunction'.
One theory suggests that Russia is using jamming equipment to protect the area from potential Ukrainian drone attacks, though this has not been confirmed.
Experts have suggested that flights in several different areas across the region have been affected, with multiple sources suspected.