Radio disruptions at B-G airport caused by W. Bank pirate station
Authorities shut down illegal Ramallah station; air traffic control still experiencing some radio interference.
By Zohar BlumenkrantzAn illegal radio station operating out of the West Bank city of Ramallah caused interference in communications between Ben Gurion International Airport's control tower and the airplanes.
Communications Minister, Ariel Attias said the station had been found and closed down on Thursday. Despite this, some further interference was experienced by the control tower.
Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz said Thursday that he would call for an urgent cabinet meeting in order to discuss the pirate radio transmissions which have been causing disturbances in air traffic control communications at Ben Gurion airport, situated in Tel Aviv.
Disruptions continued on Thursday morning as the control tower was forced to wait 10 minutes between each take-off, as a safety precaution. These precautions are expected to cause delays in the departure of flights.
Mofaz said he would demand at the meeting harsher penalties for those transmitting from pirate radio stations that have been disrupting communications between the control towers and pilots.
A threatened strike by Airports Authority workers over the radio interference was averted Wednesday night after negotiations between union and government officials.
The workers had intended to shut down Ben-Gurion Airport between 8 A.M. and 5 P.M. Thursday to protest disruptions caused by pirate radio broadcasts to control tower communications. Instead, they decided to halt work whenever there are such disruptions.
The strike was called off after Histadrut Chairman Ofer Eini spoke with Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz, and after Communications Minister Ariel Attias promised to come to Ben-Gurion airport on Thursday in order to resolve the problem.
The cancelled El Al flights remain canceled. The airport workers' union is slated to convene this afternoon to decide on further steps.
All departing flights were suspended on Wednesday afternoon because pirate radio signals were severely disrupting air-traffic controllers' efforts to communicate with planes.
Before IAI director Gabi Ophir grounded all outgoing traffic, flights taking off were being delayed by 10-minute safety intervals imposed between takeoffs.
The national union of airport workers had previously threatened labor action if nothing was done to clamp down on radio piracy. The union claims that relevant ministries and law enforcement agencies are doing nothing to put a stop to the dangerous situation and avert an aviation disaster waiting to happen.
Ophir originally ordered that the airport remain open through last night for airlines wishing to move up their departures before the strike begins in the morning. Ben-Gurion is ordinarily closed for departures between 1:40 A.M and 5:30 A.M. to prevent noise pollution from aircraft taking off. However, after renewed disruptions by pirate radio stations last evening, Ophir announced around 11 P.M. that the airport would be closed again to air traffic.
El Al had informed passengers that all of its flights until 7.45 A.M. would take off as scheduled. However, the airline was forced to cancel two flights that were scheduled to leave this morning. Flight 315 was supposed to take off for London at 10:15 A.M., and flight 007 was supposed to depart for to New York at 10:40. El Al also pushed up fligh 323 to Paris from 9 A.M. to 7 A.M. These flights remained canceled.
Lufthansa Airlines announced that its morning flight, at 5:30 A.M., would depart as planned from Ben-Gurion.
Officials at foreign airlines in Israel were livid on Wednesday at the failure to deal with the problem. Swiss International Airlines head in Israel Avner Gordon told Haaretz:
"Before opening the skies up to competition and bringing cheap airlines to Israel, you have to deal with the existing infrastructure. A nice, efficient terminal is not enough; you also have to make sure the planes take off safely from the runways."
The head of the national pilots union, Boaz Hativa, wrote to the ministers of transportation, communications, justice and public security and warned of the dangers of continued inaction in this matter and demanded that the authorities put an immediate end to the pirate broadcasts and prevent their resumption.
"To the best of my knowledge the pirate stations can be located and closed before disruptions are caused to the communications system. For reasons not entirely clear to me, this does not happen. In practice, the stations are closed only in retrospect, after the disruption to communications and the inherent risk to air traffic," Hativa wrote to the ministers.
"It is the Communications Ministry's job to locate the pirate stations and the police's job to enforce the law, put a stop to the stations' operations and ensure that those responsible for their operating be brought to justice. These actions can and should be carried out in advance and before disruptions are caused to the communications system," Hativa said.
The Communications Ministry issued a statement on Wednesday announcing that the minister is taking steps, in concert with the ministries of justice and public security, in an effort to eradicate the phenomenon of pirate radio stations. The ministry said it has shut down 50 illegal stations since the beginning of this year, and intends to continue working on this matter.
Mofaz, who is on a trip to the United States, said that he will bring the matter to the cabinet meeting on Sunday and demand that criminal proceedings be brought against the perpetrators.
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After all their hero in France Burg has already called for the elimination of the Jewish state.
"Ariel Attias said the station had been found and closed down on Thursday. Despite this, some further interference was experienced by the control tower." Seems to me there are two hypotheses: either the Palestinian radio found some means to cause interference after it had been closed down. [If they've mastered time travel, Israel really has problems.] Or that radio station wasn't the problem - or at least wasn't the only problem. Which do you think is more likely?
The problem with many pirate stations is that they are using non-professionals to operate cheap and nasty transmitters, poorly-sited and non-resonant aerials and too much power.
I am a former radio engineer--in the US pirate radio is criminal and punishable by fine and imprisonment of 6 months FOR EACH INCIDENT. It simply does not happen here.
may be olmert and livni will complain to UN ? no so difficult to locate these sources & change the frequency what we are waiting ? Needs to ask Mofaz to deal with this
stay in Kansas City with your revolution!
Please stay away from Israel....and in any case your country is not very functional either, since it hasn't even magaged to teach you how to write correctly!!!
People some proportion please. In many places in the world there are piratic radio stations. It doesn't matter if this is a Jewish or Palestinian station - the law should be enforced. And doubly so if some interference problem is ongoing.
Listen to the leftists calling for sanctions and arrests because their papers, such as Haaretz, failed to disclose: "The specific frequency interfering with the air traffic transmissions, however, is actually Ramallah’s 107.7 FM Saut al-Shaab radio." Listen to how they no longer call for sanctions, since it is their people causing the danger.
So why did Haaretz not mention that it is a Palestinian station that is the problem? And what would Lufthansa or Swiss air say if it was known to be a Palestinian station? How about some good investigative reporting, Haaretz? Let's see the facts. And #8 Moshe - are you suggesting that in our democracy that the Tax authority could be used for punishments? That a 48 hour lockup just be applied without trial? Again, if we are a democracy, at least give other stations an opportunity to go through channels. (I'm serious, but pun intended : )
How this STUPID government can'd do anything without having another CABINET MEETING. THE people of ISRAEL should start a REVOLUTION.
Why in the hell would anybody want to fly to ISRAEL,it's the most disfuctional coutry on the planet.either you get blown up by terrorists os your plne crashes.UNBELEIVABLE.
they would have been located instantly by the security forces and shut down months ago. The conclusion must therefore be that they are Jewish-religious and that someone is protecting them ...
It is a national disgrace that our only international airport is affected in this way. A police Task Force should be assigned to track down each of these pirate radio stations: 1) All the equipment should be immediately confiscated 2) The owners and operators should be detained for 48 hours 3) Detailed Income Tax investigations should be started against each person caught. I would like to see pirate radio stations dare to operate after such draconian action!
As the station in question that disturbed the air traffic during the week is Ramallah’s 107.7 FM Saut al-Shaab radio (israelnn.com), the most proper response should be to find the station and then use a F16 to shut it down.
Is if Israel is given by GOD. It's people chosen by GOD. Why oes Ben Gurion nee air traffic control. Surely GOD will protect the passengers and aircraft? Or is all this GOD bullshit a smokescreen to steal land?
So in the meanwhile, Shmuel, would you advise letting the pirates crush or crash us, until they find a solution to their demands?
Why are pirate stations interfering more than Kol Yisrael? They are all more or less the same frequency.
There are scores maybe hundreds of pirate Arab radio stations broadcasting in the area of the airport. So while it could be a religious radio station, it could just as well be an Arab station. In fact, I understand from a reliable source that it is not the 'religious pirates' who have caused the problems this time. The specific frequency that is interfering with the air traffic transmissions, however, is Ramallah s 107.7 FM Saut al-Shaab radio. Unfortunately, opening up the airwaves to licenced stations on approved frequencies (which is very long overdue in this country) will not help with that specific radio station.
How about letting "pirate radio" stations obtain a license and opearte on an approved frequency? It is the state monopoly on radio that is an underlying cause. Istead of "crushing" them, try to really deal with it!
"It is the Communications Ministry's job to locate the pirate stations....". Since most of these pirates are God-fearing imdividuals, it would not be surprising to find a sympathetic God-fearing mole in the Communications Ministry......