Would you Rather Have Snakes or Cell Phones on your Plane?
If given the choice, I know I would select slithery, scaly reptiles (and Samuel L. Jackson) over listening to the teenager in the adjacent seat babble into a cell phone any day.
But The Economist reports that 80% of airline travelers said that they would approve of the use of cell phones in transit.
Don’t despair, there’s hope for those of you who are getting a migraine at the idea of being trapped at 30,000 feet in a cramped metal tube full of yakking fellow passengers. Apparently, more people are interested in in-flight text messaging, while very few people are enthusiastic about the idea of making actual voice calls.
My ideal scenario would be that cell phones would be allowed for text messaging and internet connectivity throughout the flight, while voice conversation would be limited to designated 20 minute intervals every couple of hours.
According to The Economist, the current ban on cell phones in transit has more to do with worries about interfering with cell phone networks on the ground than with avionics. But that’s in direct conflict with a recent study from Carnegie Mellon. According to Scientific American:
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University concluded that cell phones and other PEDs could endanger the normal operation of critical navigation systems on aircraft. After monitoring radio emissions from portable electronics during airline flights (with an antenna and spectrum analyzer that fit into a carry-on bag), they estimate that an average of one to four cellular calls are made from the cabin during each trip–despite the ban. The researchers also determined that some of the emissions from mobile phones occurred in frequencies employed by Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers, which are increasingly vital for safe landings. In addition, the study warned that avionics that operate at non-cell phone frequencies could encounter interference when nearby wireless signals interact and generate spurious spikes in other frequency ranges.
I say, before we get ahead of ourselves with the enabling of in-flight cell phone abuse, let’s investigate this possibility further. The physical and mental safety of passengers depends on it.
Via Glenn Fleishman.
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Per your comment: “According to The Economist, the current ban on cell phones in transit has more to do with worries about interfering with cell phone networks on the ground than with avionics. But that’s in direct conflict with a recent study from Carnegie Mellon. According to Scientific American.”
I’m the author of the Economist article (and the person you thank for the link—thank you!), and would note that Scentific American’s representations of the Carnegie Mellon study are disputed by the FAA. In talking with the FAA’s technical advisory partner, the RTCA, it’s clear that there are no smoking guns emerging with avionic interference to warrant a continuing ban on cell-phone use.
The RTCA committee should have recommendations for testing cell phones and other electronic devices (including regular personal electronics) by December, and I was told it was highly unlikely a continuing ban would be recommended. The CMU researchers cited in Sci Am were directly involved with the RTCA, and thus the RTCA has specific access to their test results and a few years of work by Boeing, Airbus, and many airlines that have worked together at the RTCA.
The FCC, in contrast, has failed to produce an order or set of proceedings that would lead to lifting the in-flight cell ban. The last order that was made was in Dec. 2004 to obtain comments from the public (mentioned in my Economist piece). From what I can tell, there are likely to be proceedings soon. There’s some horsetrading that needs to happen among in-flight users of spectrum and those on the ground. The cell operators own 0 foot to infinity spectrum licenses, and there’s both interference issues with ground stations and ownership issues to be resolved.
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