[John Clark]

Precisely!

[Lecter]

Load this onto your laptop next time you fly...

http://www.thecleverest.com/countdown.swf

[PhillyGuy]

Originally Posted by JGBerry

you actually have a better chance of blowing up the entire gas station due to static electricity on your fleece jacket though... lol

True. I've seen plenty of morons at gas stations. I'm a safety consultant for a major oil company and their retail division. You would not believe some stuff I've seen on video. I know, off topic.

Back to the topic - Mythbusters had a pretty good show on this. They even boosted the power out of the phone to more than an old bag phone and it show no effects. And if there was an effect, why was the FAA considering allowing cell phone use in flight?

[akosnitzky]

Wirelessly posted (Verizon 8830: BlackBerry8830/4.2.2 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/105)

As mentioned above, just shut the connection off.
I think they say no electronic devices in order to keep their protocol to us simple.

[djm2]

Off topic, but do you think that there is anyone that needs to be instructed on how to use a seat belt? I've wondered why they keep that as part of the pre-flight drill.

[JGBerry]

especially now...there is the threat that a bomb could be detonated with a cell phone mid flight etc. i'm sure the FAA is keeping that in the back of their minds...

[John Clark]

Originally Posted by djm2

Off topic, but do you think that there is anyone that needs to be instructed on how to use a seat belt? I've wondered why they keep that as part of the pre-flight drill.

You'd be surprised how many people try and push the button on the seatbelt. It's a regulation that's been written in the Federal Aviation Regulations for years. It takes NPRM's (Notice of Proposed Rulemaking) and congress, etc. to change regulations.

The reason for all electronics off for takeoff, approach and landing is just that those are critical phases of flight where you don't want even the slightest bit of interference causing an indication to even flicker and have the autopilot "chase a needle" in some weird direction. I've never seen it happen but it's possible that could. You don't want to have it happen on your instrument approach into SeaTac at 250ft above the ground when your pilots still can't see the runway because it's so foggy.

[AlexKidd]

My buddy is a pilot. He has done it off and on for years, but has really been putting in his hours lately to get his dual engine and whatever is necessary to become a commercial pilot. I've flown with him a few times to a friend of mine's house who is about 2 hours away by car - fun to get up there in the air and whatnot.

Anyway, to the point of my message... He said that the whole cell phone thing is primarily CYA jazz. He leaves his phone on during flight and also told me that it didn't matter if I left mine on either. Anyway, I had mine on for a few minutes just to see if I could still get service up there, send an e-mail and make a phone call and it worked without affecting anything in the plane. Of course the importance of receiving my latest e-mail or phone call was far lower than living, so I went ahead and shut it back off.

So there you go -- unlikely to really cause any problems, but they would rather avoid any possibility of a malfunctioning radio or some other situation so that's why they probably ban them. In a four seat airplane, it's pretty easy to get every device turned off, but in a big plane, they would have to search every suitcase, bag and person to find everything that's turned on in the event of a problem -- not something you would want to be doing in a tailspin I guess, eh? At least that's my theory and I'm sticking to it.

--Kidd

[John Clark]

Same spiel for small airplanes. Clear beautiful day, won't hurt a thing. 250 feet above the ground in the fog on an approach. Turn it off. Too close to the ground to experiment with (even though it likely won't do anything there either.)

[dbltap]

I can certainly see why the Flight Attendants get so .... aggressive(?) about it. I fly over 100,000 miles a year. And I swear, I have never seen so many rude people who feel rules simply do not apply to them. American is pretty good about allowing you to continue using your devices up to the point the door is closed. Yet, I continually see Flight Attendants having to tell someone over and over and over to end the call and turn the phone off. You know, when I tell someone I am on a plane about to take off, they seem to understand I may have to get off quickly. I've never had anyone get upset with me on a call when I cut them short and say... "They are closing the doors... I have to go. I'll call you when I land." I can't believe the person on the other end of the call from these rude people wouldn't understand. I guess some people just feel they are too important for rules to apply to them.

[snikwad]

She has a Treo, thats all that was about.

[HaTaX]

I've seen my cell phone freak out the instruments on a smaller plane while flying it. (Have some hours logged but not many) It was a Piper Saratoga and I wanted to see if the cellphone stories were true, sure enough it did freak them out if placed near the instrument panel and we were low enough it could try to find a tower.

On all the flights I've been on I've always been allowed to use electronic devices until the cabin doors were closed, and then once again after takeoff. I fly NWA most of the time.

I watched a few movies on my BB on my last flight to TX (from MN) and it wasn't that bad on a small screen.

[KeithO]

There are so many new devices released worldwide every month, that to verify that all of them had no impact on flight systems would be a nightmare. Much easier to just say "no electronic devices" and have done with it.

And if you can't cope with a few hours of being uncontactable whilst on a flight, how do you ever sleep?!

[david_uk]

I checked my carrier's "Unbilled Calls" page online recently and noticed one data item under "Data activity while in Spain". Well, I haven't visited Spain for over two years, so I looked closer.

The date/time stamp reminded me that it was exactly the time I was overflying Spain en route from Cape Town to London - at 39,000 feet.

Which is what steered me to this thread. Previously I'd used the "Full power off" option, but this seems to be overidden by my "Auto On/Off" settings (and in any case I can't remember whether the BB was on South African time or GMT).

So, next time I'll just turn all radios off. Thanks for the tip.

[C17Driver]

Originally Posted by John Clark

Same spiel for small airplanes. Clear beautiful day, won't hurt a thing. 250 feet above the ground in the fog on an approach. Turn it off. Too close to the ground to experiment with (even though it likely won't do anything there either.)

Thought I would chime in: In the aircraft I fly (the big gray one in my profile picture) I can almost always tell if someone has a cell phone on and sending or receiving data (regradless of where they are; ie; flight deck or cargo area). I have never seen it interfere with the instruments, but I can hear it in the headset - causes "noise".

[John Clark]

Wirelessly posted (BB 8860: BlackBerry8320/4.3.1.22 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/100)

Yeah, all I've ever noticed it do is cut out the audio in my Bose headset. If the BB is close to the battery pack it will kill the audio while its moving data. Never seen it do anything with the airplane or its avionics.

[Sith_Apprentice]

the cell phone on a plane thing is simple. Its not about screwing with electronics, its about 250 people simultaneously using a cell phone for voice in a very confined space. can you imagine how aweful it would be if you had everyone using their phone at the same time? Also, wireless off doesnt mean anything. If the flight attendant doesnt want you to use the device at all, they will tell you to not use it. I explained to one, on Delta, about the wireless off, and she just went and got an air marshall that was on the flight. When he came to tell me to pull the battery, i promptly complied. There are international comapanies that have cellular towers built into their planes, JetBlue is trying that in this country, as well as testing WIFI.

[John Clark]

Wirelessly posted (BB 8860: BlackBerry8320/4.3.1.22 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/100)

By law, it has to be off for takeoff and landing. Wireless off isn't good enough. After they tell you its ok to use electronics then wireless off is good enough. However, a crewmwmbers instructions override any other rules.

[ifilestuff]

I'm a fearful flyer and it really never made me feel good to know that a kid playing his Nintendo DS can cause my plane to crash.

[Sith_Apprentice]

Originally Posted by John Clark

Wirelessly posted (BB 8860: BlackBerry8320/4.3.1.22 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/100)

By law, it has to be off for takeoff and landing. Wireless off isn't good enough. After they tell you its ok to use electronics then wireless off is good enough. However, a crewmwmbers instructions override any other rules.

yeah, its either 10 minutes before landing or 20, can never remember. i have it off then, but during flight they had me remove the battery because they thought i was using it as a phone/email. even though the wireless was off, i listened to them.