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Define "break in" and "interfere."

Could he down an airplane? Or just access logs?

If you read the article: "One vulnerability that Santamarta said he found in equipment from all five manufacturers was the use of 'hardcoded' log-in credentials, which are designed to let service technicians access any piece of equipment with the same login and password."

Sounds like he could access the plane's systems from an administrator's perspective. I would watch the Black Hat presentation to be sure.

The "all five manufacturers" in question are the manufacturers of satellite equipment. It sounds like he could access the satellite entertainment equipment as an administrator, but that's (one would hope) a far cry from being able to access anything important on the plane.

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