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Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

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Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#211

Post by trevyn »

gervase wrote: post #184
jacquesm wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Millimeter scans only happen in US airports -- they're banned in Europe and not really used anywhere else. were . https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2014/04/19/bodyscanners-zo-gaat-he...

I can say that I was required to use one to get back into the U.S. while transiting through Schiphol back in October 2013. No opt out, just the scanner and "I'm not forcing you to fly today - you can stay here." Pretty rude, too. Since then, I always transit through Heathrow. It's a logistical nightmare with all those buses, but they've never coerced me to go through a scanner. Those biometric checkpoints, on the oth…

I experienced this at Schiphol as well, a bit after you. I told them I couldn't because of a medical condition, they gave me a pretty thorough pat-down, and let me on.

Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#212

Post by virtuabhi »

hanspragt wrote: post #210
GuiA wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. And also people not having devices on their person means they can't quickly text friends/family if they get detained/mistreated/etc. It seems like we're getting closer and closer to being in a situation where people who can should avoid going to the US at all, and make their reasoning known. Ie, refuse to give talks, attend conferences, etc. in the US.

Cell phones are excluded from the ban, according to the article.

For now. According to the article.

Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#213

Post by greglindahl »

zeroer wrote: post #208
astrodust wrote: post #118

This makes almost zero sense, and it's likely that there will be zero explanation as to why any of this is necessary. If there's a threat this only introduces a minor inconvenience to those looking to carry out an attack. Is getting a connecting flight in some country like Germany going to be hard?

This is probably a first step towards a ban on all flights for that exact reason.

... which would increase risk, because battery fires are worse in checked bags than in the main cabin/overheads.

Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#214

Post by Cyph0n »

sitepodmatt wrote: post #197
hoodoof wrote: post #148

I've seen it quite a few times. Someone answers their cell phone mid-flight - BOOM! Down goes the plane, steep descent, passengers screaming, masks drop from the ceiling, until that phone call ends and the plane straightens up. Blanket ban on electronics is the only way to stop this happening. One time I was flying and someone had forgotten to turn off their phone until the plane was in the air and it interfered with…

Love it. I laughed more though at the comments to this - one person genuinely not sure if humor or not, and one guy, smart, that somehow managed to figure it out without a /s. Welcome to next generation of software engineers.

You must be new to the internet. I hope you're aware that people sometimes spout nonsense they genuinely believe in. I know it's HN, but I like to keep my guard up ;)

Let's say you saw a similar comment on HN describing why the Earth is flat. Would you have reacted the same way?

Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#215

Post by trevyn »

robbiep wrote: post #196
jedberg wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but the mm wave devices are not ionizing radiation The science is still out on whether it's harmful or not. I got TSA pre so I can just avoid it, but before that I always opted out.

The science is only still out if you believe that mobile phones are causing cancer as well- ie for those who can't, or refuse, to understand science. For everyone else it's throughly settled

Sorry, what?

"The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) is part of the World Health Organization (WHO). Its major goal is to identify causes of cancer. The IARC has classified RF fields as “possibly carcinogenic to humans,” based on limited evidence of a possible increase in risk for brain tumors among cell phone users, and inadequate evidence for other types of cancer."

I would not call that "thoroughly settled".

Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#216

Post by Cyph0n »

rangibaby wrote: post #206
Cyph0n wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure if you're joking or not... Regardless, the ban does not affect cell phones.

Joking for sure. When I flew domestic in China people were using their phones the whole time.

I'm aware that using a phone on a plane does no harm, but I just wanted to make sure you didn't actually mean it.

Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#217

Post by et-al »

jpatokal wrote: post #133

The Big 4 Middle East/Gulf airlines (Emirates, Etihad, Qatar, Turkish) have been giving legacy US carriers a lot of grief lately, since they're both cheaper and better on essentially all counts, so I can't help but wonder if they have their finger in the pie here. Few businessmen will opt to fly long-haul if they can't use their laptops, and they're specifically targeting 9 airlines here, not just airports or countri…

As an anecdote, I've flown United and Turkish across the Atlantic and it's a world of difference.

In 2016, the United airplane I was in still did not have a seatback screen and they expected all 200+ passengers to connect to the wifi to try to get in-flight entertainment. Of course no one got on. So all of us were left craning our necks trying to catch a glimpse of whatever was on the CRT in the aisle.

Meanwhile, Turkish Airlines has a touchscreen interface with beautifully done transitions and an amazing selection of movies and music. I remember seeing Radiohead's Kid A on there, along with the Blade Runner soundtrack.

Next month, I'm flying to Berlin via Turkish even though it will take 4 more hours because the price and comfort are worth it. Only problem is, this electronics ban may compromise my electronics.

(And yes, I'm aware of early adopter pitfalls and government subsidies for airlines, but United has no qualms treating non-status passengers like trash.)

Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#218

Post by cypherpunks01 »

jedberg wrote: post #178
jacquesm wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Millimeter scans only happen in US airports -- they're banned in Europe and not really used anywhere else. were . https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2014/04/19/bodyscanners-zo-gaat-he...

You're right, it's just the EU. I fixed my comment. The point is their technology is terrible and they are easy to defeat, as has been proven many many times. They are security theater and they were only put in place because the guy in charge of what scanners were allowed at US airports happened to have a financial interest in the company that made the millimeter wave scanner.

Who's the guy you mention? It's hard to find the right search terms to look it up, and I haven't heard that story before.

Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#219

Post by megablast »

et-al wrote: post #217
jpatokal wrote: post #133

The Big 4 Middle East/Gulf airlines (Emirates, Etihad, Qatar, Turkish) have been giving legacy US carriers a lot of grief lately, since they're both cheaper and better on essentially all counts, so I can't help but wonder if they have their finger in the pie here. Few businessmen will opt to fly long-haul if they can't use their laptops, and they're specifically targeting 9 airlines here, not just airports or countri…

As an anecdote, I've flown United and Turkish across the Atlantic and it's a world of difference. In 2016 , the United airplane I was in still did not have a seatback screen and they expected all 200+ passengers to connect to the wifi to try to get in-flight entertainment. Of course no one got on. So all of us were left craning our necks trying to catch a glimpse of whatever was on the CRT in the aisle. Meanwhile, Tu…

> In 2016, the United airplane I was in still did not have a seatback screen

This just depends which plane you get. They all have new and old planes, you can get unlucky on any airline.

Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#220

Post by linkregister »

megablast wrote: post #219
et-al wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As an anecdote, I've flown United and Turkish across the Atlantic and it's a world of difference. In 2016 , the United airplane I was in still did not have a seatback screen and they expected all 200+ passengers to connect to the wifi to try to get in-flight entertainment. Of course no one got on. So all of us were left craning our necks trying to catch a glimpse of whatever was on the CRT in the aisle. Meanwhile, Tu…

> In 2016, the United airplane I was in still did not have a seatback screen This just depends which plane you get. They all have new and old planes, you can get unlucky on any airline.

Does Turkish Airlines have airplanes in their fleet without seatback screens? Do these planes fly international routes?
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