Word: vor
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Pilots are particularly concerned about interference with the circuitry that picks up radio signals from the so-called VOR (visual omni-range) network -- hundreds of cone-shaped navigation beacons scattered across the U.S. Automatic flight-control systems depend on clear VOR signals to land planes safely when visibility is poor. But some of that VOR equipment has been behaving strangely of late, occasionally causing aircraft on autopilot to veer sickeningly out of control...
...have been lost -- so far. But TIME has obtained a stack of pilot reports linking a series of "anomalies" to a wide variety of electronic gadgets, from laptop computers to Nintendo Game Boys. In one striking example, a plane flying out of Chicago started veering off course while its VOR dials dimmed and danced around. When the passenger in seat 9-D turned off his laptop, the report states, the "panel lights immediately brightened dramatically and all navigation aids returned to normal...