Cell phones on planes

[Bjammin]

A friend of mine is an FO for American on the Super-80. The captain took out his cell phone to try to prove nothing would happen if he used it. He got a signal, dailed a number, and pressed "talk". The second he pressed "talk" the autopilot kicked off.
Don't know about you, but I will never try to use a cell phone inflight again.

 

[Tadpoles]

As a frequent passenger, it is freaking annoying when, the second we're taxing or at the gate, to have 10-50 phones turn on at the same time and ring their little jingles. Just sit back and relax. Seriously, didn't the business world work just fine 10 years ago? Since when did everying have to be a McDonalds? Get anything you want--NOW! the demise of human patience, the rise of human stupidity.

 

[uh60james]

I havent ever experienced any interference and I think that on a lot of flights our whole crew of 4 has phones on but like someone already said, good luck getting service!

 

[DenverDude2002]

I could care less about people yapping on cell phones in flight, my major complaint is the morons who bring infant-2 year olds on flight who scream the whole d**m flights! Why cant they make a law banning that that, if they cant be respectful and quiet keep them at home for Gods sake or make them sit in the back and ban them from coming past 3 rows from the back.

 

[PhatAJ2008]

How did a cellphone kick off the autopilot?

That's possible?

 

[Britpilot]

my major complaint is the morons who bring infant-2 year olds on flight who scream the whole d**m flights! Why cant they make a law banning that that, if they cant be respectful and quiet keep them at home for Gods sake or make them sit in the back and ban them from coming past 3 rows from the back.

You're kidding right? we're talking about a two year old here, they do not know what respectful is yet. I suspect their parents paid for the ticket which makes them a customer. I have taken my son on many flights (he is five now) Guess that makes me a moron.

 

[NookyBooky]

I have taken my son on many flights (he is five now) Guess that makes me a moron.

...only if you can't keep his trap shut

 

[NookyBooky]

I've never used one on a commercial flight, b/c rules are rules, and quite honestly....having 100+ people yacking on their cell phones would be irritating.

The only thing worse is sitting next to a fat person for five hours.

 

[uh60james]

How did a cellphone kick off the autopilot?

That's possible?

Phones can cause interference but it is highly unlikely it would kick off an autopilot. I am sure the autopilot was shielded against most normal interference which would probably include phones.

 

[prpjt]

I heard the only known interference was with the anti-skid operation. But I was hoping to hear it again here, cause I don't beleive it. I think T-Mobile, Cingular, and Nextel, which I beleive are all GSM, will cause interference.

Good Morning Everyone

Several navigation problems are sighted in a Boing report. One of the more interesting was a PDA that caused the plane to turn. The pilots retrieved the PDA from the cabin and tested their theory. Turn PDA on, aircraft turned left. Turn it off, plane goes back to level. They reproduced the anomolie several times in flight, but were not able to reproduce it on the ground.

That seems to be the biggest problem, reproducing the problem. There is not much doubt that devices can cause problems, but it's hit and miss.

Quote:
Originally Posted by troy
On the basis of annoying people, what is the difference between the seat back phone and a cell? Only the price it takes to use it. I have not heard of anybody on this board complain about seat back phones yet.......

A cell phone and aircraft phone are two completely different animals. All certified equipment in aircraft is designed to be shielded from electromagnetic interference up to a certain point. Aircraft electronics are also designed to have a limit on how much EMI they radiate. Consumer electronics have been found to emit well over this design threshold.

As far as personal experience, if my cell is in the copilot's seatback pocket, it will completly scramble my PFD while it's ringing. Looks like scrambled porn in a hotel room. My wife's phone however, doesn't have this scambled porn capability.