Originally Posted by
bocastephen
I know the interference being referred to (sounds like a horse trotting), but that would normally occur when the phone is in close proximity to the radio. A passenger cell phone is not going to cause that sort of interference....
If it did, then the aircraft in question should be grounded. People will forget to turn off their phones. I'd wager that the vast majority of commercial passenger flights have at least one active (not off) cell phone aboard. If an act (of omission) that is essentially guaranteed to occur presents a real danger to the flight, then that flight should not operate.
That being said, it's shocking how much interference GSM phones produce. I'm amazed that they meet regulatory specs.