Two United Airlines flights reported GPS interference near Los Angeles within 39 minutes of each other in the early hours of September 25, 2026, according to US aviation officials, the latest in a series of satellite-navigation disruptions now drawing attention well beyond the European and Middle East corridors where regulators have already acted.

United Flight 1962, an Airbus A321neo departing Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), told air traffic controllers it was experiencing navigation problems at 00:36 local time. A second report arrived at 01:15 from United Flight 1866, though officials did not identify the aircraft's type or its airport, and have not said what produced the interference or how many additional flights may have been affected.

What can GPS interference actually do to an aircraft?

Per FAA guidance, GPS degradation can reach beyond the flight-deck position display. Navigation, surveillance and any system that depends on satellite-derived position or timing can be exposed. A report of degraded reception alone does not distinguish between jamming, which blocks satellite signals, and spoofing, which broadcasts false signals and can drive a receiver to compute an incorrect position or time. The agency has not said which mechanism was at work in the LAX-area reports.

What backups does a commercial crew have?

Aircraft operating under specified commercial instrument flight rules must retain a navigation capability independent of GPS. On the A321neo that capability typically pairs inertial reference units with ground-based radio navigation aids such as VOR and DME, allowing a crew to continue an approach when satellite inputs become unreliable. The A321neo is a workhorse of United's domestic narrowbody fleet, which makes any navigational disruption on the type a network-level concern even when only a single sector is affected.

What is the FAA telling crews to do?

The agency advises pilots to monitor their equipment for anomalies and report apparent GPS degradation to ATC promptly. Its published guidance also channels detailed accounts through the FAA's GPS anomaly reporting system, which feeds the agency's wider picture of where and how often satellite-based navigation breaks down.

Has GPS interference already turned fatal in the US?

A Beechcraft King Air C90 air ambulance crashed near Ruidoso, New Mexico, on May 14, 2026, killing two pilots and two flight nurses. The NTSB's preliminary report states that the crew reported losing GPS navigation while the US military was conducting jamming exercises in the area. Investigators have not determined a probable cause, and the report ties the crash to the jamming activity circumstantially rather than causally. The juxtaposition will sharpen focus on any military or governmental jamming inside range of busy US terminal areas, particularly where scheduled commercial traffic operates.

Is the LAX episode part of a wider pattern?

European aviation regulators have logged rising satellite-navigation interference around the Baltic Sea, Black Sea and Middle East. EASA updated its safety guidance in July 2026 after further jamming and spoofing incidents, recommending changes to pilot training and tighter coordination with air traffic controllers. The LAX reports landed just over two months later and outside the zones European regulators have flagged, a sign that the geographic spread is widening rather than peaking.

What happens next?

The FAA has not yet classified the September 25 reports or named a cause. The agency and the airline will work the events through the anomaly reporting system to establish whether the two reports were linked. If the cluster grows around a high-density US terminal area, expect another round of pilot guidance updates before any rule change, and renewed questions about how civil aviation coordinates with military spectrum users near the busiest corridors.