United flights report GPS interference near Los Angeles
25 September 2026 · Aircraft incident · Last updated 10 November 2026
Crews on at least two United flights reported GPS interference near Los Angeles early on 25 September 2026. No cause has been officially stated.
Source: GPSInterference.com, https://gpsinterference.com/reports/2026-09-25-lax-united-gps-interference. Free to reuse with this credit and a link.
No unusual interference in our data
Rule 3 · none of the tests for unusual interference was met · peak day 25 September 2026 · How reports are judged
Our data for this area and day doesn't stand out from the previous 30 days. Short or very local events can be diluted in a full UTC day of data, and aircraft that switch to backup navigation may still report good accuracy. This result is published because the rules apply to every report the same way.
Our map shows aircraft reporting low GPS position accuracy. It does not show who or what caused it. A day is a full UTC day, so short events can be diluted.
What happened
Crews on at least two United Airlines flights reported GPS interference near Los Angeles in the early hours of 25 September 2026, according to US aviation officials.[1]
United 1962, an Airbus A321neo climbing out of LAX, alerted controllers at 07:36 UTC (00:36 local). United 1866, flying from San Francisco to Dallas/Fort Worth at 35,000 ft, reported similar problems at 08:15 UTC.[1][2]
AirLive reported that an Alaska Airlines flight from San Diego to Kailua-Kona was also affected over the sea off Los Angeles.[2]
No cause has been officially stated, and neither aircraft reported damage or loss of control.[1][2]
What our map showed
- Affected share
- 32%
- High-interference hexagons
- 9 of 28
- 30-day average
- 35%
- About the same as the previous 30 days
By altitude
| Altitude | Measured hexagons | High | Share | 30-day average |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| below 5,000 ft | 25 | 14 | 56% | 52% |
| 5,000–15,000 ft | 27 | 3 | 11% | 8% |
| 15,000–30,000 ft | 28 | 1 | 4% | 3% |
| above 30,000 ft | 27 | 0 | 0% | 0% |
Day by day
| Day (UTC) | Share |
|---|---|
| 18 September 2026 | 36% |
| 19 September 2026 | 29% |
| 20 September 2026 | 29% |
| 21 September 2026 | 39% |
| 22 September 2026 | 36% |
| 23 September 2026 | 54% |
| 24 September 2026 | 50% |
| 25 September 2026 | 32% |
| 26 September 2026 | 29% |
| 27 September 2026 | 29% |
| 28 September 2026 | 36% |
What others said
- AeroTime
It is unclear what caused the interference or whether any other flights were affected.
- AirLive
Described the event as severe GPS jamming reported by several commercial flights in quick succession. - AirLive, citing GPSThreatMap.com
Live tracking showed active disruption in an offshore sector directly off Los Angeles, which included an Alaska Airlines flight. - AeroTime
A report of degraded GPS reception alone does not establish whether jamming or spoofing occurred.
Context
- Region page: United States
- This day's page: 25 September 2026
- Possible causes: Cause unclear
- Official notice: FAA CHLKCA GPS 26-07, GPS interference testing, China Lake, CA, 20–25 Sep 2026, daily 06:01–13:00 UTC. Both reported times fall inside this published test window; the area's centre is about 115 NM from the test centre. No official source has linked the reports to this test.
- Official notice: FAA PMSRCA GPS 26-03 Rev 2, GPS interference testing, Point Mugu Sea Range, CA, 15–17 Sep 2026, daily 18:30–22:29 UTC; 22–24 Sep 2026, daily 18:30–20:29 UTC. An earlier test window that week. It ended before the reports.
Sources
- AeroTime, Stephen Pope. United pilots report GPS interference near Los Angeles, 25 September 2026.
- AirLive, Seb Mil. Several United flights are reporting being affected by GPS jamming over Los Angeles, 25 September 2026.
- Federal Aviation Administration. Flight advisory: GPS interference testing, CHLKCA GPS 26-07, China Lake, CA, 16 September 2026.
- Federal Aviation Administration. Flight advisory: GPS interference testing, PMSRCA GPS 26-03 Rev 2, Point Mugu Sea Range, CA, 10 September 2026.
Cite this report
GPSInterference.com (2026). United flights report GPS interference near Los Angeles. Report, 10 November 2026, updated 10 November 2026. https://gpsinterference.com/reports/2026-09-25-lax-united-gps-interference. Data: adsb.lol ADS-B, method v2, report rules v1.BibTeX
@misc{gpsinterference_2026_09_25_lax_united_gps_interference,
author = {{GPSInterference.com}},
title = {United flights report GPS interference near Los Angeles},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {\url{https://gpsinterference.com/reports/2026-09-25-lax-united-gps-interference}},
note = {Report, updated 2026-11-10. Data: adsb.lol ADS-B, method v2, report rules v1}
}Corrections
No corrections.