Cell phones on planes?

[babylonsister]

We'll then be captive audiences. That.will.stink.

[Justitia]

1. luckily, still yrs away - but ugh! That will suck.

I think it is good to be able to turn on when landing, so you can contact your ride, etc. But please! Not on the plane! Noooooo! I beg you!

[babylonsister]

3. It's probably nearer than you think.

GMA just did a story about it, and the airlines don't seem to have a problem with this concept.

[Justitia]

4. Saw that too...

and I was horrified until the end when they said it was still yrs away, but you are probably right - it will probably happen sooner.

And the plane is the only place I get any reading done - ack!!!!

[hlthe2b]

2. I agree totally. Worse (if possible) than having a screaming 2 yo behind

you...

I can't imagine this will not erupt in major disputes, as exhausted travelers try to sleep among the self-important blabber mouths exposing their ridiculously mediocre lives for all to hear.

[SammyWinstonJack]

5. Yet another reason not to fly if you can avoid it.

:hurts:

[hlthe2b]

13. For most women who have either personally experienced or read of

others' treatment amounting to "security rape," I don't think it will take much.

I'm not sure there is enough valium or beta-blocking drugs in the world to keep me from slapping a "security agent" who behaved towards me the way we are increasingly seeing occur-- with inappropriate very public fondling, and what amounts to overt sexual assault. The very real possibility of ending up in jail rather than on a plane for a flight I didn't particuarly want to make anyway, is just so appalling to me.

I so hate these assholes.

[gordianot]

6. I thought there were already cell phones on planes.

Remember all the calls going out on 9/11? That has never been throughly explained.

[Kingshakabobo]

8. Currently, you can posses a cell phone but it

has to be turned off before take-off/while in the air.

[amazona]

11. no one checks to see if it is turned off

They make an announcement that it is time to turn off your cell phone but they don't check to see if you do. I'm embarrassed to tell how many years I thought if I turned the ringer off that I had turned the cell phone off. A few times I even forgot to turn the ringer off or the phone was in the carry-on where I couldn't turn it off.

All that happens is that the phone roams a lot and your battery drains faster than normal.

It is not a safety hazard or the cell phones would not be allowed through security in the first place. That is just a fib to get people to comply with the rules by turning off their phones.

[Kingshakabobo]

16. They wont cause the airplane to fall out of the sky

but they could cause interference with the radios and the navigation computers/signals.

I doubt one phone or even a couple phones could do much damage but 30 phones working at once might cause a problem at a critical point in the flight such as landing. I assume that is why you are on the honor system when it comes to phones. A couple phones in the on position in a bag isn't going to hurt anything.

I haven't seen the research but on the affect but I do know when my phone goes on/rings/activates near my computer or car radio it does cause interference/humming. Being a private pilot myself, I know I wouldn't want my instruments to start humming on a hairy, night, instrument landing in inclement weather.

Kinda makes you wonder what they do to your brain. I hope I don't have daim bramege after 15 years of using one.

[babylonsister]

17. Airlines also try to encourage

passengers to use their expensive phones vs. passengers' own personal ones.

[WoodrowFan]

9. they work but

cell phones have worked on planes for quite a while, but

1) they have problems with reception

2) they interfere with equipment

on 9-11 the passengers and crew that used their cell phones frankly had more to worry about than either 1 or 2.

A year or so ago an airline pilot posted a long note that was on bartcop about how pilots have long used their cell phones on their aircraft but didn't want passengers to know.

[moondust]

7. Why are these allowed?

Some terrist is bound to load his cell phone up with plastic explosives and go boom...

[Kingshakabobo]

10. Another Homeland Security circle jerk.

They make you turn the phone on at the security check-point to verify that it is an "active" phone. As if some terrorists wouldn't be able to rig the phone so that the lights go on for the check-point.

[amazona]

12. they've never checked my phone

...and I've been screened a variety of ways at a variety of airports.

[Kingshakabobo]

14. Maybe if yours is in the "on" position already they didn't ask

you to turn it back on at the check point.:shrug:

I usually carry mine in the off position in the airport so I end up turning it back on as well as removing the laptop from the case.

http://www.dot.gov/affairs/tsa0702.htm


>All electronic items (such as laptops and cell phones) are subject to additional screening. Be prepared to remove your laptop from its travel case so that each can be X-rayed <

maybe they are relying more on x-rays these days.

[Retrograde]

23. no one's ever asked me to turn mine on either

just went through the TSA screening in Newark this morning, with a large bag containing a cell phone, 2 pilots (mine and husband's), two pairs of sunglasses, several books, a bottle of water, some fruit, bunches of prescription drugs, an umbrella, keys, jewelry, a handful of change - no one looked twice or asked me to open it. Nor did they last week on my way back east.

Security at the Munich airport once did ask me to take a picture supposedly to test my camera.

[Feathered Fish]

15. I think they were banned

to force those who wanted to make a call to use the credit card activated phones on the back of the seats for - oh, $15 a call. What a rip-off.

[Billy Ruffian]

18. There's a little bit more to it

An active cell phone is always trying to stay in contact with a cell tower. Whn it's up in the air, it can communicate with many more towers than it can on the ground. That apparently can cause some problems with the system.

One of the current proposals is to have a cell 'tower' in the plane, which would have the ability to lock in to a chosen ground tower, and pick the next tower for handoff.

I think it's the FCC that wants cell phones off while they're in an airplane (the FAA may want them off as well)

[Feathered Fish]

20. Of course

I was just suggesting one possible motive.

[napi21]

19. I heard this the other day. I thought they already worked on planes!

What about the calls relatives received from the hijacked planes on 9/11?

I know you aren't supposed to use them, but that doesn't mean they don't work now, does it?

[gordianot]

22. Some say they don't work at altitude.

Interesting subject re: 9/11, still a lot of tin foil hats out there on cell phone usage that day.

[Tighthead Prop]

21. Planes? Try computer labs...

I'm in college right now and I often write my papers in the computer labs which usually have no moderator. Try to imagine what its like to be typing a midterm on the German Bundestag and constantly hear "Hey Yah" ringtones and completely stupid stories of how drunk somebody got or how "Chanelle and Taniquewah wuz all up in der bidness". I was about to kill somebody.

[Stephanie]

24. GPS

Is that what it's called? Where they can locate your position? If you keep your phone on they'll be able to track you even on the plane.