I just landed from an international (latin america) flight.

There were only 3 of us in first class.

One of the passengers did not turn off the laptop during landing (playing solitare).

Would that bother you?

FYI: I do not think he did it on purpose, nor do I personally beleive it could affect the aircraft.

As someone who used to use electronics religiously during takeoffs and landings, it wouldn't bother me at all, except perhaps for a little jealousy that they were able to get away with it under the new rules.

Same here! It hasn't been proven that such devices affect the airplane's electrical systems.



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"Sire, it is not a revolt. It is a Revolution!"

Yes, it would bother me. I think it should be proven that electronics DO NOT affect the aircraft rather than the other way around.

It is only a brief period of time. I'm sure this is another irritant the FAs could do without. Let's give them a break.

I don't advocate anyone ignoring FA instructions regardless of their feelings about this subject.

However, I'm still extremely skeptical that such devices interfere with the aircraft's electrical systems.

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"Sire, it is not a revolt. It is a Revolution!"

[This message has been edited by Spiff (edited 07-25-2001).]

The laptop won't interfere with any of the aircraft's systems. There might be more legitimate concerns about things like satellite phones, cell phones, pagers, etc.. but a laptop has very low RF output and certainly can't affect other systems.

Secondly, if you can use a microwave onboard an aircraft, even a cell phone isn't much to worry about. A single microwave oven puts out more RF energy than a cell phone repeater.

Third, jet aircraft are designed to cruise at high altitudes where cosmic radiation is high. They also fly into airports in metropolitan areas which are literally swimming in RF signals of all types. If the aircraft can be landed in that soup of EF energy, a teeny little cell phone or laptop isn't going to affect it.

Finally, aircraft designers are by nature conservative and all of their avionics electronics are well shielded.

In short, there's about as much chance of your cell phone causing a airline crash as a micrometeorite smashing through the cockpit window. It's not impossible, just really really really unlikely.

On two occasions that I can think of I failed to turn off my phone (including FLL-ORD on Sun).. I thought it was off, then discovered upon landing that the phone was still on. Whoops! I'm still here to write this note.

Of course, the claim was never that ONE phone would cause the problem. What if EVERYONE on the plane had their laptop on and phone going during landing? I have no idea if it would matter.. but the issue isn't what one puts out, but that if you allow it you allow EVERYONE to do it.

More important than the RF interferrence, in my mind, is the possibility of turbulence. I've been in landings where the plane dropped 50 feet suddenly, or the crosswinds were making it yaw side to side dramatically. I'd rather not get whacked in the back of the head by some guy's laptop because he wanted to play solitaire during the landing. The same goes for cell phones.

It would bother me and I just saw it happen as well. Plato, I don't know but will ask...do you think the infra red ports on notebooks would cause interference? I too would like for it to be proved that they do not cause problems rather than the other way around.

dupe

[This message has been edited by dingo (edited 07-25-2001).]

dingo,

your laptop's ir port won't hurt anything. the sun is a huge infrared transmitter, and there's plenty of ir in regular sunlight, even through a window (that's what makes sunlight feel warm!) -- and i'd guess (can anyone verify?) the human body puts out a stronger ir "signal" than the transmitter on your laptop.

plato, shame on you for bringing facts and science into the discussion on in-flight electronics. don't you know that using electronics in-flight is dangerous, turning on your laptop will crash the plane, and anyone who uses cellphones anywhere but their home is an inconsiderate jerk and a crazy driver and will die of brain cancer?

The IR transceiver is the thing you have to worry the least about, since it's

1) limited to line of sight
2) extremely low power, as anyone who has ever tried to link a Palm or printer via IR port can tell you
3) can be blocked by something as simple as a magazine

The plastic inner hull would be more than sufficient to block the full IR transmission power of 400+ laptops even if they were aimed at the same spot.

As for the idea of EVERYONE having laptops or cell phones on, let me re-iterate that the key is the power of the device. I guarantee you that a single microwave oven in the galley will generate more RF energy than 400 cell phones transmitting simultaneously. Just think about how much power it takes to operate a microwave oven vs. a cell phone, and you'd get the idea.

Finally, there are real concerns about getting clunked with a laptop during turbulance, but I personally find dinner utensils/utilities to be much more dangerous. The nice porcelain plates used in first/business class would do quite well to give you a concussion.

The laptop, being much heavier, is much more likely to just hit the floor and slide (with predictably bad results for the laptop LCD).

I've yet to see a microwave oven in an aircraft galley. Do some airlines have them in their galleys?

[This message has been edited by 744 (edited 07-26-2001).]

This would bother me, but again, more for a risk of getting hit in the head with it than anything else.

Now the risk of death from an open food tray.........

Yes, I saw a microwave oven on a JAL flight a few years ago. I was really intrigued about the effect of microwave on an air plane and asked FA about that. He told me that it is specially shielded for airline use.

>I've yet to see a microwave oven in an >aircraft galley. Do some airlines have them >in their galleys?