http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/ Engadget Comments for http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2008 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/Mar 1st 2006 9:05AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/Mar 1st 2006 9:13AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/
How can a spectrum analyzer in a suitcase proof that

|| use of cellphones on airplanes
|| can "impact a plane's navigation
|| or other systems"
?

Or is that just a dogma the FAA takes for granted (and repeats it like a mantra) while all the study really shows us is that people actually use their cellphones in the plane?

]]>Mar 1st 2006 9:17AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/Mar 1st 2006 9:17AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/
First, I *SERIOUSLY* doubt you make any successful phone calls in the air, if you do I'm sure they don't last very long.

Secondly, you realize that while the electronics in the airplane are not *messed up* their readings could be incorrect, leading to accidents (as mentioned in TFA) on take-offs and landings.

Plus, the instruments are likely shielded from external sources, but not from internal sources.

I think precaution is better than the minor convenience of you placing a call "in the air".]]>Mar 1st 2006 9:28AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/Mar 1st 2006 9:30AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/Mar 1st 2006 9:32AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knitting]]>Mar 1st 2006 9:38AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/
That just leads to jail, but now due to 9/11, even though I am not an arab, do not believe in God, and will prove I'm not Muslim will eat Bacon right in front of security, this sort of "air rage" leads to a hell of a lot of jail time. Nobody wants this sort of thing. Just keep them out, keep lieing about the interferance. Better yet, CREATE a device that visably is affected (warning lights etc.), install one in every plane, and swear that it is important to the operation of the aircraft.]]>Mar 1st 2006 9:41AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/
Cell phones should be banned on all flights. PERIOD!!]]>Mar 1st 2006 9:41AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/Mar 1st 2006 9:47AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/]]>Mar 1st 2006 9:50AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/
This article states this scare tactic again but again provides no proof for it - as usual, there isn't any.

The only legitimate technical concern I've read on cells being used on a plane is that they would connect to more cell towers, weakly. On a grand scale this unusual usage of the cell towers may cause disruption of the cell network in general, as the software managing the towers doesn't know quite what to do with that kind of signal.

This scare tactic is crap, and we should demand we stop being lied to.]]>Mar 1st 2006 9:51AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/
Sorry. The government already has too much power. You bitch when they want to scan internet data for Al Qaida yet it's perfectly fine to say cell phones ain't allowed on dem der airplanes because poor little warrenpeace may be annoyed....]]>Mar 1st 2006 9:56AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/Mar 1st 2006 9:56AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/
They are also planning cell phone free seating areas to deal with the unsocialable behavior of some users.

]]>Mar 1st 2006 10:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/
The bottom line is that they tell you not to use your cellphone, so just don't use it. If I see anyone on one of my flights using a cellphone, I'm getting the air marshal involved.]]>Mar 1st 2006 10:22AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/Mar 1st 2006 10:39AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/Mar 1st 2006 10:50AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/
I'd guess a lot more than 200Watts {400 cell phones}.

Why is it that a plane's electronics can survive a lightning hit but get messed up by a 0.5W transmitter?]]>Mar 1st 2006 10:51AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/Mar 1st 2006 10:55AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/
But consider this: If there's some emergency on board a commercial flight --a thunderstorm, engine failure, loss of cabin pressure for example-- that's when a lot of people are going to call their family and friends. It's not just one or two phones: It will be dozens of cell phones at the exact moment when it's absolutely essential that every remaining system on the airplane be working at peak performance. During an emergency, when the pilots are already very busy, you don't want them to wonder: Is that other anomaly because of cell phones or something else?
]]>Mar 1st 2006 11:08AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/
"Uh huh, uh huh... yeah... yeah... I know... oh, I know... yeah.... HA HA HA HA HA "

Imagine that repeated four thousand times at the top of her nasally volume from NYC to LA. ]]>Mar 1st 2006 11:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/
Someone in the seat behind me fired up his cellphone. I got all kinds of buzzing and static in my headset, similar to the sound of putting a cell phone next to your computer speakers when a call comes in or it polls for messages/connection strength. What a pain in the a-- that was. I was entering a class D airspace and had to ask the tower to repeat their instructions. Luckily it was not busy and did not present an actual safety hazard. My policy from now on will be NO CELLPHONES in flight!

Granted, a small plane has a much greater chance of this type of interference due to the proximity of the passengers to the pilot, but I am not sure what other kinds of wiring might pass around the passenger compartment of a large aircraft that might make them susceptible to interference. Also, my cell phone has never caused this type of interference in the same aircraft, even though I have accidentally left it on in my bag in the front seat and heard it ringing.

I can tell you that in some circumstances it CAN cause a safety issue.

"November crack crack crackle crack turn right buzz crackle crackle...." might actually be "November 12345 hotel, tower, turn right immediately,737 on short final to runway 36 left. Follow 737, number two to land, caution, wake turbulence."

Not something I want to ask "Say again" for.]]>Mar 1st 2006 11:11AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.cmu.edu/PR/releases06/060228_cellphone.html

""We found that the risk posed by these portable devices is higher than previously believed," said Bill Strauss. "These devices can disrupt normal operation of key cockpit instruments, especially Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers, which are increasingly vital for safe landings." Strauss is an expert in aircraft electromagnetic compatibility at the Naval Air Warfare Center in Patuxent River, Md."]]>Mar 1st 2006 11:18AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/Mar 1st 2006 11:23AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/Mar 1st 2006 11:44AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/
You dont remember all the cell calls from the 9/11 planes??
If the FAA had ANY DATA that suggested there was a risk, phones would be banned at the freaking gates.
I am sure the cockpit electronics manufacturers are stunned that their equipment is now deemed vulnerable.
I am also sure their redundant systems are tested in a RF chamber with many, many, times the power of a crappy little cellphone. The article is BS.]]>Mar 1st 2006 12:10PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/
As a new father, I can say that you sir are a freaking idiot. How do you expect people with babies to travel? People with babies have right too. What a stupid analogy. Sometimes I wonder if the geeks that post on endgadget ever leave their houses to see the real world. Or are they the geek packs that drive women away in droves, with their jeans, bad haircuts, ackward body language, and leather jackets that I see roaming around town in packs?

If I see anyone using a cell phone on a plane, I rat them out to the airplane staff. I just wish the airlines took it more seriously and had jackasses who use their cellphones on planes could just be arrested and handcuffed upon landing. Since they don't take it that seriously, it must not be that much of a concern, unless of couse the airlines are just incompetent. Hum, what industry is in shambles right now?

Any electroncis that transmit RF could interfer with other electronics regardless of the frequency and power levels of said transmitter (because of rectification by dioides used for ESD protection in every IC made these days. Any semiconductor junction could rectify RF and cause cirucit malfunction), although the lower the power the lower the risk. The point is cell phones are all over the map as far as their desing goes and do all sorts of different things in the RF domain depending on the manufacturer and model. It's a big burden to test every cell phone made to make sure it is OK to use in flight. Some cell phones might pose no problems while others might cause some serious problems. And really, what is so damn important that you can't wait to talk about? Additionally there are phones for essential in flight calls already set up, though you do pay hefty rates. I don't see the need to lower peoples cost so that people can act like even more of idiots on their cell phones than they already do, say when driving down the road.

>Why is it that a plane's electronics can survive a lightning hit but get messed up by a 0.5W transmitter?

Because there is no ground return path, except through the air for a plane. It is the current in lightning that destroys electronics and sets things on fire. Planes are designed to shunt lightning current through the alumnium body where it won't harm electornics.

Lighting and RF transmission are totally different physical phenomena. Lightning is plasma throguh air. What does that have to do with RF?

In conclusion, I don't want to pay a penny more for my tickets to support the financial aspects of putting cell phones on planes. So if they can add cell phones on flights and make it safe for free, fine.]]>Mar 1st 2006 12:30PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/
It isn't that the electronics get scrambled like holding a magnet right next to your PC or something like that, the electronics are shielded from that. But all those antennae are there to take in radio signals, and even if a source of radio noise is at a different frequency than the equipment is meant to receive, it can cause interference. The airlines that are planning to allow cellphones must be taking some kind of precaution or at least banning cell phone use during critical phases of flight.

My personal experience is much like the user above, a passenger using a cell phone prevented me from communicating with the radios, and it caused ATC's transmissions to come in as mostly static in my headset.

In the end, it really is a case of better safe than sorry, which you will see is a paradigm that is followed a whole lot with aviation, where mistakes and problems can have drastic consequences. Additionally, current cell phone technology is not really designed to connect to cells from way up in the air where your phone can see many of them at the same time.]]>Mar 1st 2006 12:53PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/
Near the end of the trip he put up his laptop, got out an IPOD and begain listening to his music; BTW, I had my Dell DJ on the whole flight. The stewardess came down the cabin and announced the whole "turn off your electronics, seats in the upright position, etc..". I turned off my DJ and put it in my backpack; *HE* hid the ipod under his jacket and continued listening through out the landing.

Ok, that's the end of the story, I just had to nark, nothing else happend, the radio interference from the IPOD didn't screw up our landing, etcetcetc.]]>Mar 1st 2006 1:01PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/
ADF is not really used much any more, especially on commercial aircraft, but is also a good example. ADF is basically a needle that points to whatever radio station you tune in, there are specific transmitters for this purpose. Around thunderstorms the ADF will point at the thunderstorm, which is misleading if you are not aware of it. The obvious error would be to follow the needle right into the thunderstorm, not a good place to go.

But yeah damage (or not) to equipment from an actual lightning strike is an entirely different thing.

I suppose that did not have much to do with cell phones.]]>Mar 1st 2006 1:07PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/Mar 1st 2006 1:11PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/Mar 1st 2006 1:12PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/you would force a couple hundred strangers, in a small confined space, to listen to your offspring cry for hours and I'm the idiot? I do go outside and deal with people, which is why I'm so bitter. Less sense of entitlement because you bred, thanks.

if there was a way for text messaging to be allow, but voice calls refused, I'd be for that. or maybe email services built into those little headset tv's?

or maybe people could read a book while they fly? ha, just kidding.]]>Mar 1st 2006 1:29PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/Mar 1st 2006 1:39PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/
You can survive without yakking, until then. Try it.]]>Mar 1st 2006 1:43PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/
*thud* WAAAAAAAA
...
*thud*

The window was strong, but the baby was silent.]]>Mar 1st 2006 1:44PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/1. Can cell phones interfere with airplane's navigation systems or not?
2. Do people like it when people talk on the cell phone on airplanes?

I haven't seen the research on the first issue (show us a link, Engadget!) but if I read the story correctly, this was a very poorly conducted one. The fact that cell phone calls get picked up on a spectrum analyzer is no surprise, and we didn't need a big study to tell us that. The big question is whether these signals can cause the plane to make a sudden turn or screw up some meter readings. We don't know yet.

On the second issue, why would you want to ban cell phone conversations on airplanes while they are still allowed on buses, trains etc? There's no real difference between those environments. I agree it's annoying if someone sitting next to you is jabbering on the phone while you want to sleep, but again, how far do we want to take this? No cell phone conversations in the public if there's a stranger within 10 feet?

Just my 2c]]>Mar 1st 2006 3:05PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/
Making calls at 40k feet while inside the continent IS possible (I've seen it done but WON'T do it myself), as long as you're flying over a major city, but that call will be dropped just a minute or so later (highly amusing watching a woman talk for 90 seconds, look at her phone in frustration, shake it for good measure, and redial only to be disconnect another 90 seconds later). The cellular networks simply aren't capable of handling switching that fast...not on a small scale, and certainly not on a large scale if in-flight cell phone usage is approved.

Secondly, someone yakking away on a one hour flight is one thing, but if you're flying to the UK or western Europe (which I've had to do on too many occasions), eventually the creaking of the hundred-plus seats around you starts to drive you up the wall...concerns about SERIOUS air-rage become very real on a 12 hour flight to/from Budapest.

A worthy compromise might be to have a pico-cell in a small, SOUND PROOF cubicle (like the lavatories) that passengers can use to make their evidently urgent phone calls. But to make cell phone usage at the seat legal for the passengers would be tantamount to suicide for the airlines. Text messaging and mobile internet might be okay, but then you have to deal with eventual case of a nasty passenger viewing internet pr0n next to a young child flying alone...it'll happen, and oh won't the fallout be terrible when it does.

I am one of those biased Americans though. I haven't done a lot of puddle jumping, but I've been subjected to the cross-oceanic flights too many times in my lifetime. I personally prefer as much quiet as I can get aboard a plane....between the muted roar of the engines, the whine of the aircraft itself, the barely registering conversations of hundreds of people, or people moving around (I won't even mention the odd child crying), there is already enough noise aboard these flights. Having dedicated aisles for usage isn't really practical unless you intend to set up "pink-noise" generators around those aisles to cancel out as much of the conversational noise as possible...otherwise, the interior is still just a metal tube and sound WILL carry.

I'm all for internet (but not pervs doing perv things) on board, but let's treat the cell phone usage as an undesirable social activity (like relieving one's self). Let's keep it in private.

Anyway, just my to eurocents :)]]>Mar 1st 2006 5:32PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/Mar 1st 2006 6:34PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/Mar 1st 2006 10:20PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/
You are an ASS. Just because your PC doesn't "crash" when you put a cell phone next to it doesn't mean it isn't causing interference. Ever hear that annoying noise when a cell is too near a speaker, alarm clock, pc, etc? That same interference could affect cockpit voice communications or could potentially cause an instrument to give a false reading.

This could cause a huge problem if it occurred at the exact moment the pilot needed crucial information, or what if the pilot is trusting readings while fighting a system problem and a bunch of passengers decide they simply can't wait to yak on their phones?

I always laugh my ass off when I see people whip their phones out the second the plane touches down like they simply can't live without their phone on for another 5 minutes while the plane taxis to the gate.

Civilization survived without cell phones for 10,000 years I hardly think the inconveniance of not using them on a plane is going to cause too much pain for anyone but the self-absorbed egomaniacs that judge their self worth by how many calls they make.]]>Mar 1st 2006 11:33PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/
The flight systems in modern commercial passenger aircraft, including all the instruments and flight controls, are digital, i.e. computers. All it takes is just one corrupted bit in the right place to crash a computer, yet interestingly, despite the millions of people making hundreds of millions of phone calls from right next to their computers (far closer than any passenger would be to a vital, digital flight system) the computers aren't constantly crashing when we make or take a call. You've been watching too many movies where computers exhibit temporary "interference" and "static" on their digital displays.

The buzz you hear when a phone is near speakers is the result of analog speaker wires happening to make a convenient antenna because they are the right length and at the right orientation, without any shielding. It takes far more energetic radiation than that emitted by a cellphone to significantly affect the tiny microwires inside a computer. Just because you hear some buzzing in your Radio-Shack-quality speaker wires doesn't mean that the computer right next to them is experiencing interference in its operation at all. If it were, it would crash.

Not to mention that cosmic radiation at high altitudes is significantly higher than at ground level. I used to live in Denver, and it was common for electronics to exhibit strange and erratic behavior because of the increased radiation levels even at that altitude. Commercial aircraft fly 5-6 times higher yet, but they aren't affected by this because their flight systems are hardened against random radiation flipping the wrong bit and crashing them.

I agree that people act ridiculously with their phones on planes, and so I'd also like to see them continue to be banned, but they are not dangerous to an airplane's flight systems.

(By the way, neither is your iPod or CD player. They make you put those away to make sure you can hear the flight crew.)]]>Mar 2nd 2006 3:51AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/
Apparently you need someone to "mouth off" to you since you don't know what you are talking about. Numerous components in even the most modern of aircraft are ANALOG (you know, important little bits like the fucking Pilot's communications headset), and even a digital system can be susceptible to interference.

Did you even read a single sentance I wrote? We're not talking about some "systems crash" here but cell phones causing an interference problem that interferes with the operation of the aircraft systems at a critical time.

Several pilots have already commented in this thread that cell phone interference has caused abnormality in their systems, and still you want to go on about how if a cell doesn't "crash your puter" it's safe to use in the air.

So in retrospect, you're still an ass.]]>Mar 2nd 2006 10:38AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/Mar 2nd 2006 1:29PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/mar06/3069

The experiment only proves that people really use cellphones on planes, but there is interference information cited, especially on Page 3:

"the FCC and the FAA do not harmonize their regulations."

"intermodulation between some cellular phones caused emissions in the frequency bands used by an aircraft's GPS and distance-measuring equipment."

"spurious emissions from most intentional transmitters do not have to meet more rigorous FCC standards applicable to nonintentional transmitters"
]]>Mar 2nd 2006 6:19PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/
Obviously, many things in a plane are analog. Obviously, anything electronic can be susceptible to interference by something--as I said in my previous message. But this hardly means that it's likely to occur. Obviously, the pilot could have an aneurism at a critical moment during landing. Just because it's possible with the most minute probability doesn't mean it's anything to get worked up about.

So, if it will make you happy, I won't dispute that a cellphone, given the proper location in the plane (i.e. right next to the pilot's headset) and the perfect timing, could theoretically cause some buzzing in the pilot's headphones that would result in the inability to hear the tower clearly for all of 3-4 seconds max, thereby causing a dangerous situation. The point I'm making is that it in reality, this will never happen. Nor will any other supposed interference that requires the alignment of numerous already-unlikely events to culminate in a situation that brings down a plane.

What instead is far more likely is that something would cause a flight system computer to crash, which if it did occur, would be far more serious because it would result in loss of control of the plane or completely incorrect information display.

And by the way, the pilot that mentioned earlier his experience with cellphones was quite clearly speaking about flying a small aircraft with the passenger literally right behind him, and he had quite clearly had a great deal of exposure to people using cellphones in the plane without problems. He didn't say that it did cause a dangerous situation, only that he was freaked out when he heard some buzzing in his headphones--which were right next to the person using the phone, unlike in a commercial passenger plane. When was the last time you heard your computer speakers buzzing because your neighbor across the street or next door received a call?

Please reply; I look forward to even more desperate attempts by you to defend some point, any point, as true, regardless of its relevance to the real world. Maybe if you get a little angrier, you'll finally be right.]]>Mar 2nd 2006 10:14PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/01/cellphones-could-disrupt-airplane-systems-study/
Ya, I thought so.]]>Mar 3rd 2006 10:19AM