Cell Phone Use
 

I have been on three recent flights where the person sitting across from me has continued to use their blackberry from take off to landing even after being told to turn off. They just turn the phone over then when the FA is past , continue to enter text. I can only assume they are text messaging. I witnessed one that was writing a text message while we were landing.


How dangerous is this? If I am being placed in harms way, then should I not report them to the FA upon landing?

What is the best way to handle or am I just paranoid?

You are just being paranoid, as the interference is so minute that it isn't an issue...

In very rare cases, pilots have had HF communications disturbed by the presence of cell phones being on, but in those situations they are quite quick to announce such and get people to turn them off...

They might not even be texting... but could just be playing Breakout :)

There are a couple of threads regarding this in the Travelbuzz section..

Very little danger in actuality.

And it's possible he wasn't even actually using send/receive functionality, which is permitted for devices where it can be turned off (aka "airline mode" on cell phones, PDAs, etc.)

Still, I have witnessed a growing disregard for the "all electronic devices must now be turned off" rule, seeing pax around me continue phone conversations, play video games, etc., all throughout taxi and takeoff. Not to mention the number of ringers I have heard during flight of late.

The most annoying are the self-important people on "business" calls, who when caught by the FA and told they have to turn it off, totally ignore the FA and perhaps at last remark to the person on the other end, "Look, I have to go--the stewardess is being a real nazi," etc. :rolleyes:

There is only anecdotal evidence connecting the use of low-power wireless devices to abnormalities in aviation instrumentation. There is no proof either way - hence, the ban. Pilots that observe avionics abnormalities might assume it is due to phone usage, but again, there is no definitive proof. However, since it is a rule, and it is not hard to follow..

All too true. Turn off the cell phone, sit back and enjoy the flight. Your business will still be there when the plane lands.

The FAA regulation requires that devices be power completely OFF, not just put in airplane mode, for taxi, takeoff, and landing. Once the aircraft is above 10,000 feet (usually only 1,000 feet or so on short-haul flights, whenever the captain sounds the first post-takeoff tone), then passengers can use approved electronic devices, including PDAs, Blackberries, and cell phones that are in airplane mode.

That said, I sometimes just put my cell phone and iPhone in airplane mode instead of turning them all the way off, and I've never had a problem during taxi/takeoff/landing.

I've posted on this subject before (as have others). There are two reasons why this ban is in effect:

1. GTE, who sells and receives a lot of monopolistic revenue from the armrest Airphones, was concerned that cell phones would put them out of business. So, in the late 1980s or early 1990s, they convinced the FAA to conduct a study concerning possible interference from cellphones. As you might expect, the study was hardly independent. The study didn't conclude that there would or would not be interference. It said there was a "possibility" of interference. The possibility required several low-probability conditions to exist simultaneously. Since the study did not rule out interference 100% of the time, the FAA banned in-flight use of cellphones "out of an abundance of caution." GTE orchestrated the study and won.

2. The cell phone companies didn't really object because they would have had to invest a large amount of capital in the technology necessary to ensure a high probability of maintaining a connection at 35,000' moving at 650 mph. Among other things, they would have had to redesign cell towers to permit the signal to point up. Just think about how hard it is to maintain a connection moving at 60 mph on Planet Earth.

The technical issues associated with cell phone frequency interference with modern commercial airliner navigation and flight control systems don't pass the giggle test. But, there were other, more powerful, forces at play when the FAA made this determination.

Right, I understand that. I was responding more to the OP's thought that the person was texting or e-mailing throughout the flight (which IMHO the person was in fact doing) by saying they can actually have them on, just not transmitting, during the approved portions of the flight.

You forget, though, that those twits are far more important than you or I and even those few extra minutes of being out of touch could spell absolute disaster.

I'd prefer that you keep your bloody cell phone off for the duration of the flight. In truth, I'd be happy to watch you throw it on the tarmac and stomp on it.

Yes, I am one of the few Americans who (gasp) does not have a cell phone. And my life is every bit as rich in spite of this.

I've never heard of 1,000 ft on a short-haul (typo?) -

Most of my short-haul flights still go above 10,000 ft and often cruise around 20,000-29,000 ft as they're all pressurized aircraft whether it is a Dash-8/Saab-340 (or other turbo prop) or a regional jet of some type.

The only exception would be SDF-CVG, a mere 90 miles and the flight only reaches an altitude of about 9,000 ft and there is no use of electronics on-board. Even on SDF-CVG you're still climbing out at 1,000 ft .. or when landing, you're on final getting ready to touch down at 1,000 ft.

I have flown on small, non-pressurized aircraft commercially, but those are typically short, niche routes .. i.e. ROK-GKL (Rockhampton to Great Keppel Island)

As others have said, the electronics should not cause any interference.

SDF_Traveler

Which is amusing.. there are some devices which never turn off unless you pop the battery. They are in continual standby mode.

Since you can use phones after landing during taxi, it should be pretty clear that the cell phone ban is just a bad joke.

Shhh. Please don't publicize that too much. I like the relative quiet on the aircraft and like to catch a nap between takeoff and landing.

Whether it's a typo or not, it has no relation to the FAA reg.

The reg that applies is in Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations, section 91.21, Portable electronic devices.

§ 91.21 completely prohibits the use of portable electronic devices, without regard to altitude. However, it does have an exception - if the operator or pilot in command determines that a device can be used w/o interference to aircraft systems. If an operator has made a non-interference determination, maybe they put in an altitude restriction so as not to "tempt the fates."

Just to point out:

Most models of Blackberry have a mode that emits no RF - the so-called "airplane mode" (really it's an RF-off mode, but same difference). You can use the blackberry much as a computer - read emails that have already downloaded and draft new emails that will be sent when you're on the ground and RF is turned back on. That's allowed on virtually all flights once use of electronic devices is permitteed.

Further, most new models of blackberry will operate WiFi - which is now available on many flights. Again, perfectly allowed use.

So, I would not be to concerned about someone typing on a blackberry during flight. And I would certainly take exception to a busybody fellow passenger that elected to make a stink without understanding how these things can work.

JMHO.

Resistence is futile. Lower your shields and prepare to be assimilated.

There are several (mostly EAS) routes I'm aware of which likely don't go much above 3k feet, using pressurized aircraft--either SF3s or B1900s, IME, though I believe there was at least one with a Dash8.

Some I can think of (some of which are defunct now, but were around a year or two ago):

• BLF-BKW (34 miles; BLF no longer gets commercial service, but when it did, that was a fun flight--you could look out the cockpit from row 1 or 2 on the B1900)
• ORF-PHF (something like 17 miles; US used to operate this once a week with a Dash8, but it's defunct now, I believe)
• CKB-MGW (this was a US EAS route, something like 20 miles; at one point, it continued on to nearby PIT, but if it's still in service I believe it goes to IAD now)

Most of the other short hauls I've taken do get up over 10k feet, though; even SFO-SMF and SFO-MRY on EMB120s go above 10k feet IIRC.

lol. true. i love the losers who bring the laptop into, say, a hooters. big deals goin on baby! better have the phone in the ear and the laptop goin...

Maybe they're using the laptop's built-in camera to snap some shots? ;)