101–110 of 130 posts
The plural of anecdote is not data, but stories are fun. Last Christmas, I was on a multi-hop flight back to SF from the east coast. We were going to be landing in Vegas, and I was talking to a flight attendant. She mentions that conditions in Vegas were a little crazy, as the runway doesn't drain properly and crosswinds are common. As we're preparing to land, the captain gives the usual speech. It's going to be a li…
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"The cost of an accident, should one occur, could be extremely high in terms of human life and the risk is completely avoidable in that no one absolutely needs to use their mobile phone in flight." compare it to: "The cost of an accident, should one occur, could be extremely high in terms of human life and the risk is completely avoidable in that no one absolutely needs to eat meat to survive, they can eat vegetables…
I understand what you're getting at here, but eating meat isn't associated with the risk of causing 400 other people to die with you in a fiery plane crash. Now whether or not such a risk exists is another question entirely.
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There are offline RSS readers, Kindle apps and Instapaper saves can be exported to various formats.
It is all offline, I only read in airplane mode on the phone, I use high contrast mode with medium brightness on the Instapaper app so don't think I really annoy everyone else, but you do get told to turn the phone off even if it is in airplane mode (thus no signal in our out) for takeoff and landing. I just need to go to super offline mode and print stuff out!
Apparently that's the only dangerous part.
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Seems like GPS for landing is poor dependency, considering how easy it is to jam GPS...
That's why RNAV (GPS) approaches are still not allowed (for commercial flights) AFAIK. 30 degree error has nothing to do with GPS though. Probably DVD player interfered with Localizer signal.
I'm also not sure the localiser signal was involved since I don't think the crew would have gone to the back to get the passenger to mess around with the DVD during an approach.
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Did it turn out that anyone actually had his phone on?
How do you imagine they would find that out? Probably the problem was that during approach pilots had the usual GSM buzz in their headphones while trying to communicate with ATC. Do you really want your pilots not to hear ATC instructions on take-off, landing or taxi? Like not hearing landing clearance, or which runway exit to use, or what other traffic to lookout for. Do you even know what was the main cause of the…
I flew for the airlines. The problem is not your everyday takeoff and landing. The problem arises when the weather deteriorates to near zero visibility and the crew is relying on instrumentation to find that strip of pavement, at 130 knots. Instrument approaches rely on a narrowing volume of radio signals, the closer one is to the runway. The tighter the signal, therefore, the greater the deviation should something g…
I think this has a lot to do with the whole "turn every device off" thing. Keeping aggravation levels down, with tired and stressed passengers, with a large mix of cultures and languages, means that it is much easier to say: everything must be turned off. Otherwise you get into 200 discussions about which devices are allowed, and you have to verify each one.
This is strictly anecdotal evidence, but I'll throw in my 2 cents here. I have a private pilot certificate and am working toward an instrument rating right now, which involves being in continuous contact with air traffic control, flying in low / zero visibility conditions, and relying on aircraft instruments to guide me on landings. On numerous(if not all), I've had my iPhone with me, switched on and even in my lap a…
"Despite incoming calls and SMSs during these flights, not once have any of the instruments been affected by the phone." Without a fixed reference you have no way to verify this statement. Even if you crossed reference your flight instrument data with a ground-based reference it would not account for intermittent errors that could occur.
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I flew a plane for the first time yesterday, it was only a tiny two seater, but with modern electronics. My instructor was using his iPhone during the flight and he didn't seem worried.
Flying a C172 G1000 is not the same as flying a 737-600. You're not shooting RNAV approaches, CAT I ILS, or low alt routes. You shouldn't even be looking at the instruments (I'm sure the CFI has told you). How about that annoying click/buzz in your headset from the phones TX? It's easy for you to ask your friend/CFI/passenger to turn off their phone but how about a cabin of ~100 people...while flying your approach?
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How hard could it be to get 500 phones, put them in a plane and dial them all ?
There are more than 500 different kinds of phones. That's the problem.
However, if it fails with those 500 then that's all you need to know to say "phones can down the plane". If you need more detail you can keep researching.
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How hard could it be to get 500 phones, put them in a plane and dial them all ?
There are more than 500 different kinds of phones. That's the problem.