I actually never turned off my phone/gameboy/mp3 player and that since ages.
Fliers Must Turn Off Devices, but It’s Not Clear Why
211–220 of 301 posts
Re: Fliers Must Turn Off Devices, but It’s Not Clear Why
#212Earlier quoted context omitted.
Out of genuine curiosity, why is it ridiculous? Stolen time is stolen time, no?
All you do your entire life is what you're confined to doing on an iPad in an airplane? It's not that huge of a loss. You're not dead for half an hour on each flight.
No, but I sometimes wish I was dead for just that half an hour.
Re: Fliers Must Turn Off Devices, but It’s Not Clear Why
#213Earlier quoted context omitted.
there was a mythbusters on this. if i recall correctly, though they couldn't find any way to make the plane's instrumentation fail by bombarding it with a myriad of frequencies, even the mythbusters guys (possibly for legal reasons, or because they succumbed to pressure from their network) concluded that because the FAA can't rigorously test every device that comes out, that this is somewhat of a blanket policy to en…
I think maybe they didn't try hard enough LOL. If you broadcast on the radio frequency the pilot is speaking on, you can jam their transmission. If you broadcast on, say, the instrument landing frequency (ILS) frequency, the ILS needle the pilot is looking at will stay centered, no matter how much he deviates from the approach path. The pilot would undoubtedly realize something was amiss, switch comm frequencies, use…
Why not put the passenger cabin in a Faraday cage? Shouldn't be that hard or costly to do, compared.
Re: Fliers Must Turn Off Devices, but It’s Not Clear Why
#214Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't understand how planes are seizing productivity when the nearest competitor -- an illegally driven car -- is about 5 times slower. Yes they have quite a bit of overhead during take off, landing, baggage claim, driving to the airport, security screening, etc. But what else can reduce a trip's time from days to hours? The amount of time wasted in that overhead compared to the time gained is minuscule.
In other parts of the world their are trains, which are faster than cars and provide tables and often electricity and wifi, making them a pretty compelling substitute.
I don't think there's many places were a train is a good substitute for a 5+ hr flight.
Re: Fliers Must Turn Off Devices, but It’s Not Clear Why
#215Earlier quoted context omitted.
In other parts of the world their are trains, which are faster than cars and provide tables and often electricity and wifi, making them a pretty compelling substitute.
I don't think there's many places were a train is a good substitute for a 5+ hr flight.
No but for replacing quick hops trains make a whole lot of sense. Drastically less messing around at each end and train stations are often right in the centre of the city. Add to that the increased comfort a train provides and it is an easy argument to make.
Re: Fliers Must Turn Off Devices, but It’s Not Clear Why
#216Yes, absolutely turn off all devices. We know with certainty that ANY transmitter can cause terrible havoc with the plane's electronics. Unless you're paying the ripoff $10 fee for in-flight Wifi, then the dangers are magically avoided.
There's a big difference in power levels between wifi (that only has to go a few hundred feet to the on-plane transceiver) and cell phone radio (that has to go possibly several miles to a ground tower). Additionally, GSM has a transmission pattern that can cause noise in radio receivers and other audio devices - just try holding an active GSM phone up against a poorly shielded speaker sometime!
Wifi is limited to 1 watt of power max. Cell phones can transmit at up to 2.5 watt.
Re: Fliers Must Turn Off Devices, but It’s Not Clear Why
#217Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I'd imagine the screaming, flailing, flickering lights, smoke, and vibrations would do a decent job of getting people to look up from their iPhones. That's not the point. The fact that people have items out (and are possibly blocking exit rows etc), and are not fully aware of the events leading up to the situation is likely to have some impact on the eventual outcome. > None of those restrictions are in place to ma…
No, I think it's EXACTLY the point. Events leading up to the "situation" are likely to grab attention no matter WHAT device you are or are not using. Engines falling off planes and such are VERY hard to miss. And devices really don't affect people blocking exit rows, etc.
No, but a device dropped on the floor during an evacuation could mean some steps on it an slips. With a human pileup as a result, when seconds matter to save lives. That said, maybe the should ban magazines and books too then.
Lean back for ten minutes and think deep and meaningful thoughts. :)
Edit: spelling, hardcopy thought added
Re: Fliers Must Turn Off Devices, but It’s Not Clear Why
#218Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's a big difference in power levels between wifi (that only has to go a few hundred feet to the on-plane transceiver) and cell phone radio (that has to go possibly several miles to a ground tower). Additionally, GSM has a transmission pattern that can cause noise in radio receivers and other audio devices - just try holding an active GSM phone up against a poorly shielded speaker sometime!
I know all this. I also know that people will forget to turn their phones off, will have phones and laptops and all manner of devices in checked luggage that are possibly left on, and that these signals are all around the plane anyway. If there were any credible threat from leaving your phone on, or having it actively transmitting, then ALL phones would be outright banned from the plane. Otherwise, a group of terrori…
Lithium Ion batteries are allowed on planes as well. Is this conclusive proof that they can't damage the plane if they catch on fire?
All decisions are trade-offs, banning laptops and cellphones today would probably bankrupt the airlines since nobody would fly. Likewise, non-critical computer systems in an airplane have less stringent certification standards than critical systems (it's OK for the electronic flight bag laptop to occasionally crash if you keep a stack of paper charts in the cockpit).
It's not like a plane is likely to just go down because of interference, but instruments acting will certainly increase the workload of pilots, making an accident more likely. Likewise, people shining lasers at airplanes tell themselves that this is OK, surely the pilots can deal with a little light disturbing their night vision? They don't appreciate that the pilots already have a high workload during landing.
The wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phones_on_aircraft) has a link to a NASA study of interference events showing that they can in fact happen (although not often). Of course, you can still claim that these pilots are making stuff up or that this is another NASA conspiracy, but it's actually possible to read up on the subject instead of just offering wild theories and speculations based on your own opinion and wishes.
Re: Fliers Must Turn Off Devices, but It’s Not Clear Why
#219There is actually a very logical, sensible reason to have everyone power off and stow their devices during takeoff and landing, and this story disappointingly failed to cover it: By far the most likely time for any accidents or incidents to occur is during takeoffs and landings. If everyone has 15 objects out and is busily typing away, it's going to be tht much more difficult for flight attendants to get everyone's a…
> it's going to be tht much more difficult for flight attendants to get everyone's attention to give instructions
I've taken the plane more than a hundred times, I know the instructions and I know no one has ever bothered me when I leave my ipod/phone/nintendo ds turned on. Sometimes the flight attendance asked me to turn it off so I comply, otherwise I don't. Also especially because I like to listen to music when I take off and feel like I'm in a movie.
Re: Fliers Must Turn Off Devices, but It’s Not Clear Why
#220There is actually a very logical, sensible reason to have everyone power off and stow their devices during takeoff and landing, and this story disappointingly failed to cover it: By far the most likely time for any accidents or incidents to occur is during takeoffs and landings. If everyone has 15 objects out and is busily typing away, it's going to be tht much more difficult for flight attendants to get everyone's a…
Exactly.
In addition, keeping passengers calm and relaxed is also a key point of security - roudy/drunk/agressive or even violent passengers can cause a lot of trouble on a flight when there are relatively few, fairly untrained flight attendants on board. Thus, if everybody was chatting away on their phones with annoying ring-tones going off every 2 minutes this would probably start aggravating people, so its just easier to say 'no mobile phones' - and if people have the impression it is a point of safety then they are more likely to obey them.