Since January 19, 2022, I have no idea what behavior the Radar Altimeters on board of the airplane I fly will show when flying in the USA. It could either fail, generate no data or even worse, create erroneous data which will be used by other aircraft systems. Pilots, just like myself, could be presented with the wrong flight altitude and unexpected behavior of other flight control systems. This all as a result of the rollout of 5G in the USA.
A lot has already been written and said about the issue. In the USA, the band used for 5G within the communication spectrum is between 3.7 – 3.98 Ghz. The buffer is 220 Mhz with the frequencies used in the aviation industry (4.2-4.4 Ghz). In Europe, this buffer is larger because 5G in Europe uses the band 3.3 – 3.8 Ghz. Nevertheless, EASA is still paying attention to the issue and participating in studies on the effect of 5G on aviation safety.
