Nearing the year 2012, electromagnetic storms threaten life on Earth as we already have seen on multiple occasions in aviation. Some believe that recent plane crashes were caused by such storms and some of the world powers have already taken measures to avoid areas knows for high intensity of such magnetic impact. Many fear that we haven't seen the worst yet before the big events in 2012.

Approximately every 11 years violent storms on the surface of the Sun cause massive amounts of energy – in the form of protons and electrons – to be thrown out into space. After a few days, this energy reaches our planet, interferes with the planet's magnetic field and generates huge currents – even more in the polar regions. These induced currents can subsequently induce massive surges in (power distribution) transmission lines, damaging transformers and causing high-amplitude harmonics.

With jet airliners coming to depend ever more heavily on electronic systems for vital functions, their vulnerability to EMI poses a potentially lethal threat to air safety. The uniformity of the region in which the accidents occurred suggests that the region itself - the environment external to the (air)plane - should be included among the causes to be investigated.

EMI could be another lurking surprise. For this reason alone, perhaps it should be included in the structured process that is part of every accident investigation. Aircraft maintenance, atmospheric weather (windshear, icing, fog, etc.), and other factors routinely are examined in detail, even if their relationship to the initially suspected probable cause is problematic.

Perhaps EMI should be considered as a form of "electronic weather." Three aspects pertain: "space weather," such as the 11-year sunspot cycle, at its peak now, that could affect navigation systems and radios; EMI from ground and airborne sources; and finally, interference from portable electronic devices carried by passengers in the cabin. In all three cases, the literature is growing about unwanted electrical interference and system malfunctions. Heaven forbid that EMI should someday bring down an inadequately shielded "electrified" jet loaded with passengers (or has it already?), but the industry has been caught off guard in other areas.

The Air France crash had again raised fears about the aircraft's susceptibility to electromagnetic interference. "It was flying through or close to a thunderstorm and lightning. The high static charge from thunderstorm clouds can cause electromagnetic interference. It could be that if the A330 is more vulnerable to electromagnetic interference, it could have caused the pilots to lose control of the aircraft during severe turbulence." The black box would only emit signals for 30 days. But the Atlantic search area between the coasts of Brazil and Africa remains vast and depths range from 3,000 to 6,000 meters, with currents so strong that the box might never be found.

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