Lone-Wolf Radio Hoaxer Hacks Melbourne Air Traffic Control — Police:

Australian federal police are hunting a lone-wolf radio hoaxer who made 15 illegal transmissions to air-traffic controllers and domestic passenger pilots last month – including one telling a Virgin pilot to abort a landing. The agencies investigating the incidents believe only one person has made the transmissions by finding a way to tap into the air traffic control frequency and communicate directly with planes and control towers. Flight data shows the plane came close to the runway as it approached Tullamarine Airport on an October evening. Then, three minutes later, the plane climbed to 3,800 feet and started circling over north-west Melbourne – all under orders from the hoax air-traffic controller. Later that evening, the hoax caller impersonated the pilot of a light aircraft. He issued a mayday call and pretended to be experiencing engine trouble. John Lyons, president of Virgin Independent Pilots Australia, said rogue radio transmissions were “a concern” because pilots must obey instructions from air traffic controllers but may not be able to verify who is or isn’t a legitimate controller. Lyons said rudimentary amateur VHF radio equipment could be used in such a hoax. “It’s not hard for someone to obtain,” he said. “There’s a lot of people that spend a lot of time observing aircraft at airports, and many of them have radios that monitor frequencies. But most of them just listen.

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