FAA clears almost 80 per cent of US airline fleet for low-vis landings

The US regulator, the FAA, has cleared almost 80 percent of the US airline fleet for low-vis landings.

The FAA issued new approvals Thursday that allows an estimated 78 percent of the U.S. commercial fleet to perform low-visibility landings at airports where wireless companies deployed 5G C-band. This now includes some regional jets.

Airplane models with one of the 13 cleared altimeters include all Boeing 717, 737, 747, 757, 767, 777, 787, MD-10/-11; all Airbus A300, A310, A319, A320, A330, A340, A350, and A380 models and some Embraer 170 and 190 regional jets.

The FAA says it is working diligently to determine which altimeters are reliable and accurate where 5G is deployed in the United States.

"We anticipate some altimeters will be too susceptible to 5G interference. To preserve safety, aircraft with those altimeters will be prohibited from performing low-visibility landings where 5G is deployed because the altimeter could provide inaccurate information, the FAA said.