I worry more about the people controling the plane than the use of cell phones on it.
Posted on 01/21/2011 8:34:06 AM PST by markomalley
You know who you are. You leave your phone on during flights, maybe do a little text messaging and otherwise break rules about cell phone use on planes once the doors close for departure.
"This is an absurd rule. I never turn (mine) off. I may text or browse the Web, but I never talk on the phone," one CNN.com reader commented recently.
On the other side of the aisle are passengers who abide by the safety instructions and warnings, worried that cellular signals may indeed interfere with cockpit instruments.
Take those two camps and add passengers who say either way, listening to fellow travelers chatter on the phone would be annoying, and you have a heated debate -- sometimes literally in the airplane aisles.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
“Is it really dangerous to use a cell phone on a plane?”
If you are sitting next to me it is.
If they really were dangerous, they wouldn't even allow them on board.
Just my humble opinion.
This is an absurd rule:Rules are for other people not me.Stupidity is the #1 killer.
Your phone is a transmit/send radio. Nothing more or less. The airplane's radios are shielded to prevent interference from the ones they use. It's not uncommon for some instrumentation like compasses, ADF's, and glideslopes to temporarily vanish from display for a few seconds when you key the microphone to speak. You really don't want that to happen from passengers talking on their radios(cellphones).
Think Ron Brown....................
I had always heard that this is done at the request of the cell phone providers since it causes problems as the plane moves across multiple cell phone towers.
I recall reading somewhere that the rule comes from a specific type of electronic equipment in a specific location on a specific model of plane. Here’s how I understand the story:
Once upon a time, consumer electronics were just barely at a point at which they were becoming portable enough to bring aboard a plane — portable TVs, for example. This was long before the FCC had regulations about electromagnetic emissions from such devices. Airplane pilots found that, on certain models of planes, if these devices were used by passengers who were seated in seats that ran near the plane’s communication equipment, there would be a slight buzzing effect audible in the conversations with control towers. As a precautionary measure, the FTA banned all electronics in all seats at all times, because of course that’s the reasonable response to such a circumstance.
From the article:
>>better safe than sorry<<
That excuse never flies with me. If people really believed that, they would never get into their cars for anything but the most critical travel. After all, better safe than sorry, right?
I have a friend who is a pilot for American. He tells me that pilots use their cellphones all the time during flight.
Also, look around the airport, there are always wireless towers, otherwise you wouldn’t get service in the airport.
IMO, the no cellphone rule on airplanes has always been about reducing passenger complaints. Who would want to be on an airplane with 300 people talking on their cellphone?
Another stupid phrase. Safety is our top priority. Obviously that’s not the case because the company would just shut down and tell people to stay at home. Making money/increasing shareholder value is their top priority.
I worry more about the people controling the plane than the use of cell phones on it.
That being said, My GPS is fun to use while sitting in the back.
Note that Filght 93 crashed after passengers began to use their cell phones. Coincidence?
The reason why you're not supposed to use them in flight is when you're cruising at 30,000', your phone is going to transmit to several cells at once, and the system isn't designed to handle that.
The Cell Phone system is designed for line of sight, and the towers are rarely over 150' to 300' high, which limits the coverage area.
This restriction grew out of a case where a video game console being used by a kid on a chartered civil jet produced some frequencies that actually interfered with the glide slope receiver on the aircraft during an instrument approach. This is a bad thing. Especially during actual instrument conditions.
So just to be on the safe side, the FAA mandated restricting all electronic devices that could possibly produce electronic signals that might affect the avionics on board during climb out or approach. (Anytime you’re flying near the ground in an airplane, you want to pay extra attention.)
Practically speaking, when you use your phone while airborne, you’re swamping many cell phone towers at once. This overloads the system, and degrades performance for everyone.
Frankly, I’m sick and tired of boobs who think they are above the rules that are designed to give them the best chance of survival in an emergency. There actually are reasons for a lot of the rules.
Open your window shade for landing. You just might want to be able to see outside to avoid the post crash fire after impact.
Put your seat upright and stow your tray. You might just need to get out quickly, just like the person behind you.
Keep your seatbelt fastened and stay in your seat until the light goes off. Sudden stops have been known to happen while taxiing to the gate.
And you just might want to know where the life preserver is and how to put it on when ditching. And use the O2 system if the pressurization fails. And how to find an exit amid the panic typical in smoke-filled cabin.
Aviation emergencies are sudden and frequently fatal. There’s not a lot of time to bone up on the information on the card in the seat pocket when people are screaming and clawing to get out.
So it’s a good idea to at least pay some attention to the safety briefing, and allows others to listen as well.
“Navigation signals are very low in power by the time / distance they are received by the aircraft. In cruise flight it’s not as much of a big deal because of the airway width. But on an approach for landing, or reverse approach(departure), interference can cause hundreds of feet in deviation from centerline both vertical axis and horizontal. That does not mean it will in all cases, but it CAN.”
If cell signals had any effect, planes would be dropping like flies as they fly over urban areas.
It’s hokum.
And, yes, I am a pilot.
Mythbusters did the cell phone thing and could find no problem with even 100 times the signal strength.
Myth Busters did a segment on this and they could not find any reason why passengers could not use the cell phones....
Personally, I hope they never allow the use of cell phones during flights, I am so sick of hearing other peoples conversations.....
It's a gov't conditioning of the cattle thing.
I have to read no further. Exactly my sentiments.
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