Pax not setting phone to flight mode. Major issue?
#31
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: EMA (how boring) but BHX is more convenient.
Posts: 2,334
My thoughts on this is that I want to see evidence that modern phones do not cause any interference. While clearly a mobile phone being used won't instantly down a plane
My understanding is that in the airport industry the target is zero accidents. So, even if there has not yet been an accident yet, if there's the possibility that there could be an accident due to the phones, and airline safety is a very well studied field, then a ban is reasonable.
Even if the only effect of the phones is to distract pilots a bit, well there are safety procedures in place where the whole point is to avoid pilots being distracted at critical times. So, again, I could see that it's plausible that a ban would be sensible even if that's the only result of the ban.
However, people's sense of entitlement concerning using phones is such, that the only resolution I can see is that planes and plane communication systems are going to have to be built around the concept that people will use their phones no matter what.
Note: I am not assuming that a ban is necessary. See my first sentence where I say that I'd like to see firm evidence one way or the other as to whether phones actually cause a problem.
My understanding is that in the airport industry the target is zero accidents. So, even if there has not yet been an accident yet, if there's the possibility that there could be an accident due to the phones, and airline safety is a very well studied field, then a ban is reasonable.
Even if the only effect of the phones is to distract pilots a bit, well there are safety procedures in place where the whole point is to avoid pilots being distracted at critical times. So, again, I could see that it's plausible that a ban would be sensible even if that's the only result of the ban.
However, people's sense of entitlement concerning using phones is such, that the only resolution I can see is that planes and plane communication systems are going to have to be built around the concept that people will use their phones no matter what.
Note: I am not assuming that a ban is necessary. See my first sentence where I say that I'd like to see firm evidence one way or the other as to whether phones actually cause a problem.
#33
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: EMA (how boring) but BHX is more convenient.
Posts: 2,334
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) ruled that mobile phones do not pose a threat to aircraft safety, even when used during takeoff and landing. In 2014. Has there been anything since then to contradict that?
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technolo...g-flights.html
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technolo...g-flights.html
#34
Suspended
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 1,685
As a former engineer at Boeing, there is almost nothing that a cell phone can affect. When you think of all the sources of EMI that are in the air, cell phones are the last of your worries. Airplanes these days are built to handle EMI much more severe (think solar storms etc.). There is one time that I would want to make sure that cell phones are off or in airplane mode, and that's an auto-land in CAT3 conditions (less than 100 ft vertical visibility). I have heard that its possible for phones to affect the Radio Altimeter reading which is what tells the autopilot how far off the ground you are (see the Turkish 737 crash in AMS for more info on why this is important).
Do I turn my phone on airplane mode during flight? Yes, but that's more to save battery having my phone constantly search for service.
Do I turn my phone on airplane mode during flight? Yes, but that's more to save battery having my phone constantly search for service.
#35
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 1,879
Look at it this way - do you really think that we would have the TSA feeling up grandmas and little girls, confiscating nail clippers and knitting needles when a plane could be crashed by a cell phone - which literally *everyone* on the plane is carrying?
If a cell phone could harm a commercial aircraft, you would not be permitted to carry one past security. Full stop.
If a cell phone could harm a commercial aircraft, you would not be permitted to carry one past security. Full stop.
#38
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: EMA (how boring) but BHX is more convenient.
Posts: 2,334
Note: I always take all of my lithium batteries in my carry-on.
#39
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Plum Nelly
Programs: Marriott Bonvoy, Delta Sky Miles, and S&H Green Stamps
Posts: 636
Maybe I should post this in the "motto" thread but here goes: "rules are only for those who need them, certainly not me."
#40
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: SJC/SFO
Programs: WN A+ CP, UA 1MM/*A Gold, Mar LT Tit, IHG Plat, HH Dia
Posts: 6,282
OMG this is SUCH a MAJOR issue! Every flight I take at least a few people leave their phones on (not in airplane mode) and the flight crashes, killing everyone aboard. So INSENSITIVE!
#41
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 1,879
#42
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: YVR
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To answer the OP, yes this happens all the time and I notice it all the time.
But nobody does anything to alert the crew, and we forget about it.
But nobody does anything to alert the crew, and we forget about it.
#43
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: DEL
Posts: 1,053
Only loose lithium batteries are prohibited, and security takes them out just like they take out gas cylinders for camp stoves, fireworks, huge magnets, etc.
The real punishment for forgetting to put phones in airplane mode is that you arrive with a flat battery. Just barely getting a signal and immediately losing it, over and over, takes a lot of energy.
#44
Join Date: Aug 2018
Programs: AA Gold; Hilton Diamond
Posts: 31
I actually had a conversation with an FA on one flight. I was in 1A on a little Canadair, and her jumpseat faced me, so we talked. Summary:
Cellphones cause absolutely no problem in and of themselves.
FA's text the whole flight anyway.
The requirement is to maximize their chance of you paying attention during the safety briefing and in case SHTF.
That said, I've had more than one co-worker tell me about riding through an "auto-landing" in zero/zero conditions, and the FA's came through to verify that all devices were physically powered off, because THAT situation can be affected by cell devices.
Cellphones cause absolutely no problem in and of themselves.
FA's text the whole flight anyway.
The requirement is to maximize their chance of you paying attention during the safety briefing and in case SHTF.
That said, I've had more than one co-worker tell me about riding through an "auto-landing" in zero/zero conditions, and the FA's came through to verify that all devices were physically powered off, because THAT situation can be affected by cell devices.
#45
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: San Diego, CA
Programs: GE, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 15,486
Wouldn't they have to search through all of the carryon bags too to make sure that hotspots and similar weren't on? I'd imagine it wouldn't be enough just to make sure that devices physically in passengers' possession were off.