Pilots detect possible interference since 5G rollout — and regulators are investigating

US safety regulators have received more than 100 pilot reports of possible interference from 5G wireless signals -- including three near Chicago O’Hare International Airport -- since the new mobile phone service began less than two weeks ago. The reports of anomalies on aircraft devices known as radar altimeters are being reviewed by the FAA, said three people familiar with the matter who weren’t authorized to speak about it. Interference from the new 5G service has been ruled out in many of the cases, one of the people said, and it remains unclear whether the others indicate a safety hazard or just pilots being overly cautious. “We are using our established safety-reporting systems to look into a handful of reports of possible 5G interference,” the FAA said. “So far none of these reports have been validated.” But the reports, combined with the vital role altimeters play in safety, help explain why the FAA has taken such a stringent approach to minimizing risks from the new wireless signals. Radar altimeters that have malfunctioned in recent decades for reasons unrelated to mobile phone signals have been blamed for multiple accidents, including a crash near Amsterdam in 2009 that killed nine as well as several fatal helicopter crashes, a Bloomberg News review of U.S. government and international records has found.<br/>