7 ms·
I find it hard to believe that a plane's avionics are sufficiently shielded to withstand a direct lightning strike, but one person's phone will crash the plane.
by ax0n 16y ago
I find it hard to believe that a plane's avionics are sufficiently shielded to withstand a direct lightning strike, but one person's phone will crash the plane.
I've heard other explanations, too, such as the fact that too many mobile towers are line-of-sight at the same time, and the effective ground speed means you'd hop towers far too often and it'd mess with the phone system. Multiplied times the number of mobile-phone-carrying passengers in the air at any given time, I suppose it's plausible.
- rakkhi 16y agoThat last one is an interesting point, any references to whether it has been tested?
- ax0n 16y agohttp://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8O9BCJ80&show_article=1 http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8O9BCJ80&show_a... FTA (emphasis added): "Existing rules require cellular phones to be turned off once an aircraft leaves the ground in order to avoid interfering with cellular network systems on the ground."
- bobds 16y agoI find it hard to believe that my tiny MP3 player could be dangerous to the plane's avionics, yet I'm usually told I have to turn it off before takeoff.
- run4yourlives 16y agoThat is because they want you to have all your senses (especially hearing so they can give you instructions) during take-off and landing; the most dangerous parts of any flight. It has nothing to do with the MP3 players themselves.
- eggnet 16y agoNope. Why force people to turn off their kindles but not close their books?
- WillyF 16y agoWhat about the "radio" stations you can listen to if you plug in to the headrest. I never listen, but do they stop at takeoff and landing? I can't remember if jetBlue turns off your tv during takeoff and landing. I know they turn it off for safetey announcements.
- joezydeco 16y agoThe crew can interrupt that audio at any time with PA or emergency directions.
- bl4k 16y agoThe threat isn't about damaging the plane or forcing it to crash, it is about potential interference with electronic guidance and instruments, especially in the event of an instrument landing. With a 2 degree glide slope during landing, even a 0.05% change in the radio signal can see a plane hit a mountain as opposed to safely clearing it. Here are two relevant accidents where the instruments were just a fraction off and caused a collision: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Air_Flight_801 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Air_Flight_801 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Inter_Flight_148 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Inter_Flight_148