UpInTheEric

So something happened today I've never heard/seen before... My initial reaction is that it's B.S. but thought I'd pose the question to the experts...

So I'm on a United flight this morning from SMF to DEN. Typical pushback procedure, nothing special. Then the FA comes on the intercom and says something to the effect of: "we have a device here that can detect electronic devices that are still on, an we can see there are still nine devices that need to be powered off..."

He went on:

"I can see there's one iPod, a kindle, and someone even has an old Texas Instruments device powered on. Now, we need these turned off, not just in airplane mode...", yadda yadda yadda.

Now, I'm relatively tech-savvy, and I'm reasonably sure there's no such device. MAYBE they had something that would pick up on WiFi signals, but that wouldn't work if they were in airplane mode.

Okay, so maybe it's B.S., no harm done, maybe the TI reference was a joke meant to let us know he was just kidding. But then he says: "ladies and gentlemen, we know what devices are powered on, and yes, we even know what seat you're sitting in, so don't make us come visit you in person".

Uh....creepola?

So: creepy FA with power issues and a penchant for elaborate lies? Or truth? Discuss.

flitcraft

Nope. If there were such 'magic' devices, they'd be on every flight. So, was the delivery amusing or annoying?

Substance would be annoying, but I can imagine a delivery that would have been amusing.

UpInTheEric

Nah, it was pure creepy. I could imagine a situation where someone said it and it was funny, but this particular FA didn't have a speck of tongue-in-cheek about it.

angatol

On any flight I've been on, when I've done a scan from my laptop for wifi devices, it's typically 90% iphones, so I'd find it extremely unlikely that they detected just one ipod...

Jimgotkp

Probably lies just to scare people. Will never forget a US flight when a pilot who was positioning to CLT took out his "dumb phone" and was using it to send texts during the flight. I don't know why he was trying to send messages because they didn't seem to be going through..

B747-437B

Wouldn't the device that detects devices be a device and hence need to be powered off itself???

sparkchaser

Touche.

moondog

I think a quick email to UA about this (from the OP), calling them out (i.e. ask them for details about this monitoring device because you won't feel safe flying UA any more until you know, for certain, that it doesn't interfere with the plane's navigational equipment), would be well worth the time, if for no other reason than the fact that all of us will surely get a laugh out of the reply.

If the gadget in question really does exist, perhaps it's just looking for Bluetooth devices within range?

slawecki

no, he's using a receiver to find transmitters. would be extremely difficult to find receivers. i would presume each device has a separate transmission signature, so should not be that difficult to see what kind are on. if 50 iphones are on, probably hard to do an accurate count.

Jenbel

Not if it has been certificated for use on board aircraft.

CaStarGazer

I heard the same spiel a few months ago on a UA flight. They specified how many of each device in each class. I assumed it was BS, as did the guy next to me who kept texting through takeoff.

MOBFlyer

I think the TI reference was a giveaway that it was a joke. The rest are possibly transmitting over wi-fi and could be detected, but then possibly so would such devices at the gate (assuming the plane was still at the gate).

My guess is the FA figured it was funny, and if some dufus got scared and stopped playing words with friends just to be safe, then all the better.

Any device that would do the trick would be prohibitively expensive.

cordelli

And on Romper Room they would look through your TV and see who was watching the show

slawecki

i was under the impression that an individual cell phone could be identified and tracked even if off. to disappear it, one has to remove the battery.

angatol

A cellphone turning off will transmit a final disconnect notice, but one that is off will not otherwise be detectable. It might be wise if you're an al quaeda operative, to change your location after turning off your phone if you live in pakistan...

Many wifi enabled devices such as ipods or iphones will constantly request to connect to all the SSIDs they have seen in their lifetime, so if you're on an airplane running kismet, you'll see people attempting to connect to LAX-Hilton, Barbados-Cricket-club, Starbucks-free-wifi, etc. You can also send a query for all bluetooth devices that have been configured as visible to respond to an identification request.

I've only done the occasional experiment, but I've never detected less than 30 devices in-flight that aren't in flight-mode and that doesn't include GSM/3G devices. I have a USRP GSM basestation but haven't tried it in flight.