Firebird2XC
Well-Known Member
My theory here:
Even if whatever transmitter device doesn't have an EMI (ElectroMagnetic Interference) issue with the airplane, there are safety issues at hand.
En route, obviously the perceived issue is EMI in terms of the airplane. Beyond that, the fact that a cell phone searching for a tower will have a hugely increased line of sight advantage will likely mean some sort of communication signal hogging. Imagine if ten or fifteen phones on every flight in the US started searching a hundred mile radius for a tower all at once. It's the FCC, not the FAA, at work in this part of it.
As for taxi, takeoff, and landing, it's a safety issue even in crystal clear VMC flying even if no radios or nav instruments are affected. Why? If something happens, who wants a cabin load of people holding a small, hard projectile that will go flying forward into the back of somebody's head? Not me.
Even if a sudden jolt isn't the issue, sometimes getting passengers just sitting there to pay attention is like herding cats.
When I was on the 1900, I spent alot of time trying to conduct briefings of passengers in the cabin, and waiting for them to put down those damn phones took up half the time of the total briefing.
That, as far as I see it, are the underlying concepts behind cell phone usage. The cockpit door closure rule is largely a rule of thumb- it's just an easily markable point where the cabin crew can site the cockpit crew shifting into a most sensitive regime of operation.
Even if whatever transmitter device doesn't have an EMI (ElectroMagnetic Interference) issue with the airplane, there are safety issues at hand.
En route, obviously the perceived issue is EMI in terms of the airplane. Beyond that, the fact that a cell phone searching for a tower will have a hugely increased line of sight advantage will likely mean some sort of communication signal hogging. Imagine if ten or fifteen phones on every flight in the US started searching a hundred mile radius for a tower all at once. It's the FCC, not the FAA, at work in this part of it.
As for taxi, takeoff, and landing, it's a safety issue even in crystal clear VMC flying even if no radios or nav instruments are affected. Why? If something happens, who wants a cabin load of people holding a small, hard projectile that will go flying forward into the back of somebody's head? Not me.
Even if a sudden jolt isn't the issue, sometimes getting passengers just sitting there to pay attention is like herding cats.
When I was on the 1900, I spent alot of time trying to conduct briefings of passengers in the cabin, and waiting for them to put down those damn phones took up half the time of the total briefing.
That, as far as I see it, are the underlying concepts behind cell phone usage. The cockpit door closure rule is largely a rule of thumb- it's just an easily markable point where the cabin crew can site the cockpit crew shifting into a most sensitive regime of operation.
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