Study Warns Cell Phones Could Cause Airliner Crash
Study Warns Cell Phones Could Cause Airliner Crash:
Lifting the current ban on use of cell phones aboard airliners could pose the risk of a major accident, according to a new engineering study. More info here.
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Read the actual IEEE Spectrum article (“Unsafe At Any Airspeed?”, March 2006) — the journalist summary you’ve linked to is sparse on details and full of sensationalism. The actual IEEE article says that while PEDs (personal electronic devices) may be compliant with FCC RF emissions interference standards, they are not compliant with FAA avionics RF interference standards. It also documents how passengers routinely use PEDs in violation of cabin crew instructions to the contrary.
Those are entirely reasonable concerns — obviously the standards should be harmonised, and pax should obey the cabin crew safety briefing. But it’s still a long, long way from specific, replicable evidence of PED RF emissions interfering with navigation avionics and causing a crash.
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