Extreme Space Weather Could Delay Your Next Flight

Surges in solar activity can disrupt airline flights, according to a new study. Late last year, a dazzling aurora borealis was visible as far south as North America due to intense solar activity. This same phenomenon caused an unexpected jolt in a flight headed to Newark, New Jersey from Cancun, Mexico, which led to an emergency landing in Florida.

The study reveals that cosmic radiation from the sun poses a significant threat to airplanes, as their cabins receive a higher dose of radiation than ground-based infrastructure. When radiation levels surge during solar storms, it can interfere with aircraft electronics, leading to Single Event Upsets (SEUs) - small errors that accumulate and cause major failures.

The Airbus A320 that experienced the unexpected pitch last year had a "fly-by-wire" system, which proved susceptible to radiation interference. As a result, 6,000 aircraft were grounded for software updates. Study author Fan Lei from the University of Surrey emphasizes that space weather is not just a theoretical risk, but an existing threat to aviation.

Flights over the poles, such as those to London's Heathrow or Canada's Vancouver, are more vulnerable to radiation than equatorial routes. Although the average person receives a low annual dose of radiation from natural sources, during the most intense solar storm studied, a transatlantic flight could expose passengers to 5 to 10 millisieverts (mSv).

To protect flight crews from accumulating radiation doses, researchers propose a new atmospheric radiation scale that accounts for solar activity, similar to existing nuclear radiation scales. This new scale could provide clearer thresholds for airlines to decide when to ground or reroute flights, ensuring the safety of passengers and crew.