Originally Posted by Markonen
Since BA's a non-smoking airline (well, like everyone else), the Non Smoking overhead signs are always illuminated. What a waste! Why not repurpose them to be Electronic Devices signs? ... All the wiring etc. is there already I assume, you'd just need to change the signs themselves. What am I missing?
The no-smoking signs may still be more deeply wired into the aircraft than at first appears. The circuits used to be linked to the undercarriage lock systems. This dates back to the days when the "no smoking" signs would automatically illuminate when the gear began to extend, and would automatically extinguish when the gear was locked up after being retracted on takeoff. ISTR someone mentioning fairly recently that on CX the accompanying chime still sounds at these points in the gear cycle, even though the light now stays on because the override switch is left permanently on.
Originally Posted by TechnoOenology
Since the evidence that modern 'electronic devices' do anything bad is slim ...
But not non-existent - see this
recent published research.