Mobile Phone Flight Mode - Easyjet

hammy_the_hammer

waster wrote:

They use the same excuse about interfering with equipment in hospitals. And that is known to be cr*p too.

The articles linked above use the usual words when there is no concrete evidence. The word "could", "may", etc does not mean the same as "will" and "can". You can dr\w your own conclusion as to why these words are used!!

would you be so sure if your relative was wired up to extremely sensitive equipment that was keeping them alive?
if on planes it's all part of some airline conspiracy why do they ask you not to use ANY 'electronic' devices until the seat-belt sign light goes off?....something they asked you to do before mobiles were even produced for the masses

jinkssick

Well it does have to do with some sort of interference because of a flight from London to Colombia, pilot said over the transmitter that a phone was being used and was interfering with equipment. He sounded serious and had not been told by any officials, so interferance did occur. As they turned it off, he said thanks. Actually as we were going down, the person turned it on again and he was very unimpressed.

WiseInvestor_2

xzibit is [mostly] correct. Mobile phones can and do cause radio interference. It's not so much a problem for voice transmissions but onboard navigation equipment uses the same technology to guide the aircraft using equipment on the ground (eg ILS, VOR etc). Nowadays, modern aircraft wiring is well shielded so the risk of interference between the Cockpit and the Flight Controls (eg ailerons) is minimal. However, to suggest that pilots routinely have their mobiles switched on inflight is incorrect - why would they? They've got proper radios/satcom to call whoever they want.

Also, phones can confuse ground cells due to the rate of change from one cell to another but it's only really a problem at lower altitudes where the reception cone is much smaller. And contrary to popular myth, mobiles can and do work at 39,000' (over land obviously)!

Another consideration is situational awareness. If the crew need to announce vital safety information (possibly at short notice with little time to repeat things!) you really don't want to be headbanging away to AC/DC at the time!

Mobile phone technology is advancing at such a pace that there's no way for the cabin crew to keep up with which models have which flight mode features. I'm not surprised if easyJet take such a hard line as it's easier than leaving the active mode to trust. Whilst phones are commonplace and greatly enhance our everyday lives, they are considered a social nuisance and a long flight sat next to a selfish caller could be enough to push anyone to their extremes. Fights are the last thing you'd want to see on an aeroplane.