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Your statements are clearly nothing more than uninformed opinion and trolling. That is the most apparent "Fact" in this whole discussion.

He is just another sad case of someone who firmly believes that if the world doesn't conform to his whims, then it's the world's fault.
 
WRONG.
My bottle of water, deodorant, shampoo, nail clippers, etc. that the TSA will steal from me if I try to travel with them, has a statistical chance of causing damage to the airplane of ZERO.

Well, there has been no case of flammable or explosive liquids endangering a plane. Don't believe me? Look it up. From wikipedia:

You are simply IGNORANT and uninformed. Oh, and WRONG. If you are going to be a little "wikipedia-search-boy", then maybe broaden your search parameter.

Flight 858, a flight brought down on 29 November 1987, by liquid explosives concealed as liquor bottles by North Koreans who boarded the plane in Iraq.

Philippine Airlines Flight 434 1994 al-Queda test run for Operation Bojinka, in which a passenger was killed and 747 controls seriously damaged by a liquid explosive packed into contact lens solution bottles containing nitroglycerin. Bomb was assembled from parts in hand luggage by Ramzi Yousef, who also built and detonated the WTC 1993 bomb.

And the 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot was legit and very real. But it was only the most current plan that caused the restrictions to be enacted. But even if you are too ignorant to believe the 2006 thwarted plot was real, the previous occurrences and loss of life make you equally uninformed and WRONG.
 
If so, then stop the BS. Then ban all devices from being carried on period. Otherwise, its nonsense to turn them on or off (cause there is no way to police actual power down of each device -- particularly if in someone's pocket or the seat pocket).

That's the problem. The rule, as its now adminstered, makes no logical sense. If there is any possibility of harm, you are going to trust me (who will simply lock the screen and not power down)?

So if the possibility of harm really exists, the devices should be outright banned on-board. Otherwise, stop the stupid and illogical enforcement.

But going through everyone's bags is going to be tedious and take a lot of time. It may come to that, but I hope not. Also on another conversation on another site, someone suggested using a dampening field, but that's like curing a headache with a lobotomy...
 
But going through everyone's bags is going to be tedious and take a lot of time. It may come to that, but I hope not. Also on another conversation on another site, someone suggested using a dampening field, but that's like curing a headache with a lobotomy...

You probably shouldn't have taken that bait. The rules exist so that they can be enforced when needed, not because they can or must be enforced 100% of the time. They give the captain the authority to do what he or she deems necessary to ensure safety of flight. We can only hope that our friend the "conscientious objector" some day ends up in an airport terminal that wasn't supposed to be his final destination.
 
You are simply incorrect as to this policy having "no basis in science or fact". That claim would actually best describe your very own statement. The most basic understanding of physics would remind you that any wire that has a current flowing through it creates an electromagnetic field. That field alone, even if not creating radio waves as the result of alternating current, may have an effect on Navigation sensors on the aircraft. It may prove to be negligible and of no significance, but it is that due diligence in U.S. aviation that makes it, by far, the safest on earth. The statements of "fact" made by so many on this site, with zero knowledge of the physics involved, reveals a lot about the arrogance of our society.

“The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.”
― Stephen Hawking

Low current AC will have a negligible effect on the DC sensing navigation devices on aircraft. Heck, our business relies on creating fairly high current AC fields on a wire in close proximity to extremely sensitive magnetometers and be able to navigate with a level of precision much higher than is necessary for air travel. This is truly a non-issue.
 
Claiming that "it hasn't happened (yet)" is a VERY BAD CONCEPT in aviation. No airliner crashed because of a fire in its in-fight entertainment system, either... before the first one did. There's always a first time.

As any pilot knows, accidents are rarely accidents. They're the end result of a chain of sometimes tiny events, relatively harmless by themselves.

For example, the confidential safety database has entries from pilots who could not hear ATC because of GSM buzz interference. Other entries note navigation gear acting up, autolanders disengaging, and false collision alerts.

Fortunately, the pilots involved worked their way around the issues. However, it's not hard to imagine that the result could've ended up in a worse way, especially with less experience pilots.

We already know that there can be interference. Boeing was testing a new WiFi system last year when they accidentally discovered that a passenger device that ramped up its power too much, in a certain position of the plane, would cause the pilots' cockpit flight displays to blank out. They had to add more shielding to get around that.

In aviation, it is always better to be safe than sorry. Pilots have a saying, "It is always better to be on the ground wishing you were up in the air, than in the air wishing you were on the ground!"

--

The problem here is, that it's usually impossible to prove the event after landing. The passengers and their devices are gone, and nobody is going to pay to take the aircraft offline to do more testing of that particular airplane.

Moreover, the FAA is mostly concerned with keeping flights going. That's why they spent decades ignoring the NTSB (they're the safety guys) recommendation for cargo hold extinguisher systems.

It's all about the cost vs displayed risk.

It is not a 'very bad concept' when you have the data to back you up. You cannot eliminate every risk, and no other system in an airliner is held to this standard.

Again, at what point does the risk become 'small enough?' At this point, we have more accidents from fires in the in flight entertainment systems (if what you say is true) than we do from consumer electronics. Why haven't those systems been banned?

We are not proposing allowing new products that don't conform to current standards. In that case some testing would be in order. In the case of existing electronic devices, the data is very clear that they cause no significant threat. Why is nothing else on the aircraft held to this rigorous standard that it must be proven completely unable to fail under any possible circumstance?
 
Low current AC will have a negligible effect on the DC sensing navigation devices on aircraft. Heck, our business relies on creating fairly high current AC fields on a wire in close proximity to extremely sensitive magnetometers and be able to navigate with a level of precision much higher than is necessary for air travel. This is truly a non-issue.

At high altitudes, above 10,000 ft, I believe it is certainly a non-issue. The "negligible" effect at low altitudes on extremely high precision approaches is what is in question, where a single degree of error is critical. In most aspects of navigation, a degree of error (.27% of the compass rose) would mean nothing. That would not be the case in the low altitude environment. It simply warrants thorough investigation. It would be such a shame if an aircraft were lost due to such an error being a contributing factor. To be clear, that is all it would be. I know that no amount of Personal Electronic Devices on board will cause an airplane to roll over and crash, or spontaneously explode. There are back ups to failed or erroneous instrument displays. But we always like to break the first "link" in the "chain of events" that can contribute to a mishap in aviation. And ensuring there is zero degradation of navigational accuracy, caused by personal electronics, is a step worth exploring patiently.
 
A million passengers fly a day, lets say 300,000 have a cell phone.
This has been going on for decades, and is rapidly escalating.

The number of incidents is statistically nothing.


On the flip side, I have not heard of any serious testing or attempt to recreate reported incidents. It sounds like our FAA and FCC is not doing its job.


I am a pilot myself and I rely on GPS, 2 or 3 kinds of Radio navigation, and a magnetic compass (not electronic compass) besides simply looking out the window. Redundancy of aids reduce chance of problems.
 
At high altitudes, above 10,000 ft, I believe it is certainly a non-issue. The "negligible" effect at low altitudes on extremely high precision approaches is what is in question, where a single degree of error is critical. In most aspects of navigation, a degree of error (.27% of the compass rose) would mean nothing. That would not be the case in the low altitude environment. It simply warrants thorough investigation.

To be clear, I am talking of putting many amps of current on a wire and magnetometers calibrated to better than +\- 0.1 degrees. Yet I'm supposed to be worried that an e-reader back in the passenger cabin might effect the navigation systems by a degree or more??
 
You probably shouldn't have taken that bait. The rules exist so that they can be enforced when needed, not because they can or must be enforced 100% of the time. They give the captain the authority to do what he or she deems necessary to ensure safety of flight. We can only hope that our friend the "conscientious objector" some day ends up in an airport terminal that wasn't supposed to be his final destination.

True. I sat next to a young (probably libertarian. Most are it seems) who was spouting that type of ********. I finally pointed out to him that it didn't matter what he said, or what he believed. If a flight attendant spotted him using his phone, or I reported him (being a pilot), he would not get to his destination, and would likely spend a fair amount of time in a small room either answering questions, or wondering when he was going to get out. All because the world revolves around him, and his needs... I told him that it really didn't matter what the hell he thought. That in the grown up world, there are rules and he wasn't in charge of determining what rules were 'good rules' and what rules were 'bad rules'. He ****, and actually turned his iPhone off. I nearly laughed... I'll bet he didn't get enough of that at home.
 
At high altitudes, above 10,000 ft, I believe it is certainly a non-issue. The "negligible" effect at low altitudes on extremely high precision approaches is what is in question, where a single degree of error is critical. In most aspects of navigation, a degree of error (.27% of the compass rose) would mean nothing. That would not be the case in the low altitude environment. It simply warrants thorough investigation. It would be such a shame if an aircraft were lost due to such an error being a contributing factor. To be clear, that is all it would be. I know that no amount of Personal Electronic Devices on board will cause an airplane to roll over and crash, or spontaneously explode. There are back ups to failed or erroneous instrument displays. But we always like to break the first "link" in the "chain of events" that can contribute to a mishap in aviation. And ensuring there is zero degradation of navigational accuracy, caused by personal electronics, is a step worth exploring patiently.

But even a half degree of error, if not caught, can lead a plane to be thousands of mils of course over time.

And there are backups for SOME of the devices in the cockpit. Some, not all. Putting pilots in a situation of trying to decide which is the erroneous device, and getting them to just spontaneously recover in the proper way is sometimes asking a lot. Remember the Air France crash off South America? Would you believe that it was caused by a plugged tube that caused the pilots to freak out? Yep, it happens... I'd just as soon avoid that if I could, mmm-kay... I kinda like living and can live without my iPhone being on all the time... That's why I shut my iPhone off and use my iPod Touch, in airplane mode. Same apps, same music, longer battery life, no hassles...
 
It's clearly always a trade-off between the level of risk and the inconvenience of avoiding it. In this case the inconvenience is minimal, and the risk is not yet quantified.



It makes no logical sense to use the fact that we have lots of empirical evidence that flying with the current regulations in place is safe as justification for changing those regulations.

-- HJKL

That's not the issue. The issue is that the rules are routinely and regularly not followed. As such, where is the safety issue and why keep the rule?
 
Actually, No

If so, then stop the BS. Then ban all devices from being carried on period. Otherwise, its nonsense to turn them on or off (cause there is no way to police actual power down of each device -- particularly if in someone's pocket or the seat pocket).

That's the problem. The rule, as its now adminstered, makes no logical sense. If there is any possibility of harm, you are going to trust me (who will simply lock the screen and not power down)?

So if the possibility of harm really exists, the devices should be outright banned on-board. Otherwise, stop the stupid and illogical enforcement.

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Without a link your story means nothing. Even with a link, I doubt it means anything.

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Please, i suppose you never go over the speed limit when driving Mr. rule follower?


I dont drive because im only 14 years old. Thank you though...
 
The occurrence of interference is FACT. The cause is what is under investigation. They are not banned entirely because of the difference in "phase of flight" that we are operating the aircraft in. Navigation of the aircraft requires incredibly less "precision" when we are in "cruise" at altitude as compared to "approach" below 10,000 ft. Shooting a precision approach to a runway in weather, or at night has little room for errors that theoretically could be induced by electromagnetic interference. An airplane lining up 50 feet left of the runway centerline on landing can (and has been) catastrophic. Airways navigation at 35,000 feet has no such vulnerability. So the potential problem and its impact on aviation safety is viewed differently above and below 10,000 ft. So you are again wrong and clearly ignorant of the subject matter when you lump the entire flight profile together by stating: "If there is a problem then they should be BANNED entirely."

Your statements are clearly nothing more than uninformed opinion and trolling. That is the most apparent "Fact" in this whole discussion.


You miss the point entirely. Since the rule cannot be and is not actually realistically enforced in practice at ANY stage in flight, the risk that you speak of (take off and landing/10000 feet) is never eliminated in actual practice.

Therefore, if your argument is its such a terrible risk at certain times of flight, the only way to practically avoid that risk is to ban such devices entirely. Anything else is just "safety theater", since it accomplishes nothing for a flight attendant to simply making an announcement as to what they hope people will do. While many people may listen, many people don't on purpose or accidentally (since they may just lock the screen).

In other words, if the danger is that terrible, then the devices should in fact be banned entirely, because it is likely that any commercial flight of any passenger size no doubt has many such devices on at ALL stages of flight.

So either it is a real danger or it isn't. If it is a real danger, the enforcement should be 100%. If its not a real danger, lets stop the nonsense.

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He is just another sad case of someone who firmly believes that if the world doesn't conform to his whims, then it's the world's fault.

No, its called thinking for yourself and not just falling in line with the sheep who run scared anytime someone yells safety.

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You probably shouldn't have taken that bait. The rules exist so that they can be enforced when needed, not because they can or must be enforced 100% of the time. They give the captain the authority to do what he or she deems necessary to ensure safety of flight. We can only hope that our friend the "conscientious objector" some day ends up in an airport terminal that wasn't supposed to be his final destination.

How is it bait? It is common knowledge that that if rules are enforced arbitrarily it diminshes all of the rules. So by having real rules that really mean something and are not arbitrarily or infrequently enforced, all safety rules are likely to be followed more strictly by the flying public.

And no one (other than you) has claimed that the device rule is there simply to give the captain authority when needed.

----------

True. I sat next to a young (probably libertarian. Most are it seems) who was spouting that type of ********. I finally pointed out to him that it didn't matter what he said, or what he believed. If a flight attendant spotted him using his phone, or I reported him (being a pilot), he would not get to his destination, and would likely spend a fair amount of time in a small room either answering questions, or wondering when he was going to get out. All because the world revolves around him, and his needs... I told him that it really didn't matter what the hell he thought. That in the grown up world, there are rules and he wasn't in charge of determining what rules were 'good rules' and what rules were 'bad rules'. He ****, and actually turned his iPhone off. I nearly laughed... I'll bet he didn't get enough of that at home.

Phones are not the issue here. It is reading electronically via a kindle or kindle app on an ipad or such similar device. And yes, any intelligent person can decide what rules are good or bad. You do it every day -- I guarantee you have gone over the speed limit when driving (at least once if not many times).

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But even a half degree of error, if not caught, can lead a plane to be thousands of mils of course over time.

And there are backups for SOME of the devices in the cockpit. Some, not all. Putting pilots in a situation of trying to decide which is the erroneous device, and getting them to just spontaneously recover in the proper way is sometimes asking a lot. Remember the Air France crash off South America? Would you believe that it was caused by a plugged tube that caused the pilots to freak out? Yep, it happens... I'd just as soon avoid that if I could, mmm-kay... I kinda like living and can live without my iPhone being on all the time... That's why I shut my iPhone off and use my iPod Touch, in airplane mode. Same apps, same music, longer battery life, no hassles...

If you are using your ipod touch in airplane mode below 10,000 feet you have violated the rules. The rule as announced by flight attendants is that anything with a power button must be powered OFF.

Again, this thread is not about using cell phones for placing or taking calls. Its about being able to read a book electronically or something similar.

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I dont drive because im only 14 years old. Thank you though...

Okay then, you always went to bed the exact time your parents said. Always came home the exact time your parents said?

Never talked back to your parents? never got in a fight with your siblings? Many rules are broken by all every day.
 
The article primarily refers to cell phone use for placing or taking calls, which this thread is not about.

No it does not, look again. Looking at the article title & contents it predominately talks about personal electronic devices and only makes reference to cell phone usage only once.

We are not proposing allowing new products that don't conform to current standards. In that case some testing would be in order. In the case of existing electronic devices, the data is very clear that they cause no significant threat. Why is nothing else on the aircraft held to this rigorous standard that it must be proven completely unable to fail under any possible circumstance?

Most personal electronics have standards that have to comply to FCC regulations, but do not necessarily comply with FAA regulation standards on board an aircraft.
 
That's not the issue. The issue is that the rules are routinely and regularly not followed. As such, where is the safety issue and why keep the rule?

The point is that while the number of active devices is clearly greater than zero with the rules in place, removing the rules would likely increase the number of devices to a level where we have no empirical evidence.

-- HJKL
 
Is it really that big of an inconvenience to have to stow your iToys for a short period of time? The world will continue to turn even if you don't post yet another meaningless Twitter message about your boring life.
 
True. I sat next to a young (probably libertarian. Most are it seems) who was spouting that type of ********. I finally pointed out to him that it didn't matter what he said, or what he believed. If a flight attendant spotted him using his phone, or I reported him (being a pilot), he would not get to his destination, and would likely spend a fair amount of time in a small room either answering questions, or wondering when he was going to get out. All because the world revolves around him, and his needs... I told him that it really didn't matter what the hell he thought. That in the grown up world, there are rules and he wasn't in charge of determining what rules were 'good rules' and what rules were 'bad rules'. He ****, and actually turned his iPhone off. I nearly laughed... I'll bet he didn't get enough of that at home.

It's a very specific mindset at work. You don't have to obey any rules that you don't understand. So it stand to reason that if you cultivate willful ignorance, you will not have to obey any rules at all.
 
The point is that while the number of active devices is clearly greater than zero with the rules in place, removing the rules would likely increase the number of devices to a level where we have no empirical evidence.

-- HJKL

Per the articles you rule followers are throwing around, increasing the number of devices does not exponentionally increase the risk. In other words, 2 devices does make 2 times the risk, 3 devices on not 3 times the risk, etc.

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Is it really that big of an inconvenience to have to stow your iToys for a short period of time? The world will continue to turn even if you don't post yet another meaningless Twitter message about your boring life.

For the millionth time, it is not about social media, communicating with others or talking on the phone. It is simply about reading an electronic version of a book on a kindle or via the kindle app on an ipad, or such other similar device.

Planes will continue to fly (and have) with such devices on.

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It's a very specific mindset at work. You don't have to obey any rules that you don't understand. So it stand to reason that if you cultivate willful ignorance, you will not have to obey any rules at all.

So do you always follow the speed limit? Or do you not understand the speed limit?
 
I've watched more episodes of air crash investigation than I'd care to admit to and not one crash has been attributed to this issue. Yet. However, there was one crash relating to wiring that caught fire in a newly installed in flight entertainment system. That was scary.
 
I think it's passengers who should relax

they will survive with no electronics until the plane is up

this.


as an aside, my active iphone AND active ipad presented no issues to the fully electronic G1000 MFDs in the general aviation plane I was flying. That's a distance of less than two feet.
 
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