Aviation authorities are finally considering lifting the ban on passenger use of cell phones, e-readers, tablets, and other electronics. Why?
Why is there a ban in the first place?
The
airline industry and the Federal Aviation Administration worry that
electromagnetic waves emitted by passengers’ personal electronic devices—including MP3 players, laptops, smart phones, and cell phones—could
interfere with an aircraft’s electronic controls, or avionics.
Commercial pilots file dozens of reports every year detailing how their
radios, GPS navigation systems, and collision-avoidance boxes suddenly
went haywire, but began functioning again when passengers were asked to
check that all their devices were turned off. That kind of
circumstantial evidence led the FAA in 1993 to urge that laptops, audio
players, and other electronic distractions not be used during takeoff
and landing. Once an aircraft is above 10,000 feet, aviation officials
say, a flight crew would have enough time and altitude to safely react
to any electronic problem. The risk in allowing passengers to use their
electronics at lower altitudes is tiny, said Boeing engineer David
Carson, but since a freak occurrence could end in disaster, “why take
that risk?”
Is there any evidence to support this fear?
It’s
mostly theoretical. Any electrical device can generate interference as
electricity flows through its wiring. Even those without wireless
signals, like portable CD players, can emit potentially troublesome
electromagnetic radiation. Devices that intentionally transmit radio
waves, like cellphones, pose even greater problems. Some engineers think
that such emissions could potentially drown out weak signals from radio
navigation beacons on the ground or GPS satellites in space. Wireless
industry spokesman Michael Altschul says such fears are baseless, since
separate radio frequencies are assigned for aviation and commercial use.
“Plus,” he said, “the wiring and instruments for aircraft are shielded
to protect them from interference from commercial wireless devices.” In
two decades of tests, government scientists and experts at Boeing and
Airbus have bombarded planes with electromagnetic radiation, but have
never succeeded in replicating the problems reported by pilots, or
confirmed that electronic devices caused any equipment failure.
Do some fliers ignore the ban?
A
recent survey found that 40 percent of air passengers didn’t bother to
turn their phones off during takeoff or landing; 7 percent left their
devices’ Wi-Fi and cellular communications functions active, and 2
percent surreptitiously used their phones to talk or text onboard.
University of Illinois psychologist Daniel Simons estimates the odds of
all 78 passengers on an average-size U.S. domestic flight powering down
their phones completely as “infinitesimal: less than one in 100
quadrillion.” If personal electronics were as dangerous as the FAA rules
suggest, “navigation and communication would be disrupted every day on
domestic flights,” he said. “But we don’t see that.” In addition, flight
crews now freely use iPads in the cockpit instead of bulky paper
operating manuals. And above 10,000 feet, many U.S. airlines happily
allow passengers to use the Internet via onboard Wi-Fi systems for a fee, with no reports of dangerous interference with airplane avionics.
Will the FAA ever ease up its rules?
It’s
considering doing just that. As more and more people replace books and
magazines with Kindles, iPads, and smartphones, pressure is growing to
lift the ban. The FAA announced last year that it would conduct a
thorough review of its electronic device policy—but didn’t say when that
review would be completed. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D–Mo.) has warned the
FAA that if it doesn’t soon relax its rules on e-readers and other
portable electronics, she will introduce legislation forcing it to do
so. “I’m big on getting rid of regulations that make no sense,” she
said, “and I think this is one.”
When might the ban end?
Conceivably,
within a year, although bureaucracies can move very slowly. Current
guidelines require each airline to test every make and model of each
electronic device it wants the FAA to approve for each type of aircraft
in its fleet. But the FAA is now seeking to bring together airlines,
aircraft manufacturers, technology firms, and the Federal Communications
Commission to streamline the certification process for tablets,
e-readers, and other gadgets, so entire classes of devices could be
approved at one time. The ban on using cellphones to make calls or send
texts in the air, however, is likely to remain for the foreseeable
future.
Why single out cellphones?
The
trouble there is possible interference with cellular networks, not with
aircraft avionics. Cell networks operate on the principle that a
cellphone is only within range of one or two cellular towers. A phone
that’s moving at 500 mph at 30,000 feet, however, can shower signals on
any number of masts, confusing the network’s software and potentially
leading to dropped calls between land-based customers. Besides, surveys
show that most passengers dread the thought of some jerk in the next
seat being free to conduct annoying cellphone conversations from New
York to Los Angeles. “An aircraft is one of the few places left on earth
where you can actually escape from mobile phones,” said aviation and
travel writer Benet Wilson. “I hope it stays that way.”
P.S. Many
passengers ignore the electronics ban in flight, but those who get
caught—and remain defiant—can pay a serious price. Actor Alec Baldwin
was booted from an American Airlines flight in 2011 after he ignored a
flight attendant’s repeated requests that he stop playing a game on his
smartphone. Last November, half a dozen police cars raced onto the
tarmac and surrounded a plane at New York’s La Guardia Airport as if
there were a terrorist onboard. They were there to arrest a 30-year-old
passenger who had refused to turn off his phone during taxiing.
Scofflaws on foreign flights can risk more than ejection. In 1999, oil
worker Neil Whitehouse refused to switch off and hand over his phone to a
British Airways flight attendant, earning a year in jail. A Saudi
Arabian passenger who flouted the cellphone ban two years later received
an even harsher punishment: 70 lashes.