Why Can't You Use Your Cell Phone on a Plane?

re: Why Can't You Use Your Cell Phone on a Plane?

Eagle6avn — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 23:34:21 GMT

Although I am not an engineer and have always wondered just how a cell phone can find me anywhere from Alaska to Florida, I can say that a common hand held cell phone will work up to at least 29,000 feet. I have noticed that if you are directly above a city, the signal is marginal; but if flying on the fringes of a cell area, the coverage is better which confirms the horizontal orientation of the cell tower antenna. Further, I have not observed any interference with the avionics or systems of the the corporate airplane I fly. Our policy,however, is make only an essential call, then turn off the phone.

re: Why Can't You Use Your Cell Phone on a Plane?

Austin Texas — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 04:31:51 GMT

My husband is an airline pilot and has told me that his own cell phone has interfered with his avionics. It's just not worth it to me to even MAYBE have interference so you can chat on the phone while we are flying in the air depending on avionics to keep us SAFE. Can't people go a few hours without it? It's not a prosthesis for goodness sake. And the 911 calls came from low altitudes. Most of them had just taken off, it takes awhile to get to 35,000 feet.

re: Why Can't You Use Your Cell Phone on a Plane?

fondy44 — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 15:25:04 GMT

I've often wondered about the whole 'cell phones interfere with equipment' claim. My employer used the same excuse to prohibit us from using them on the factory floor. What doesn't make sense is that we ARE allowed to use walkie-talkies. These things are so big that the battery packs alone are bigger than most cell phones.

On a side note, it seems like it should be possible to create a system of low-powered, mini-towers that could be installed/connected directly to the utility poles. What better place to put a cell phone mini-tower? You already have access to both the phone lines and a source of electricity. If every utility pole served as a cell antenna, you wouldn't need as much power to transmit the signal.

re: Why Can't You Use Your Cell Phone on a Plane?

av9tor94 — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 14:48:53 GMT

dmspilot00 is absolutely correct. A Lufthansa 747-400 departing San Francisco aborted a take off at a high rate of knots when the auto-thrust retarded the thrust levers to idle. Blew all the tires. Cause was found to be a passenger in buisiness class upper deck pushing the send button to make a call on his cell phone. A B767 (from my airline) during the initial climb out, while on auto-pilot, veered dangerously towards high terrain to the right of the intended track. No appearant reason cold be found so the Captain wisely did a quick PA to the cabin asking anyone using a cell phone to turn it off immediately....everythng returned to normal within seconds. Yes, cell phones interfere with aircraft systems.

re: Why Can't You Use Your Cell Phone on a Plane?

rlly — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 03:15:29 GMT

Does anybody out there know if Sattelite connections have damaging effects to our health also?

re: Why Can't You Use Your Cell Phone on a Plane?

CEM — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 02:11:49 GMT

no-name - this may be a "free country", but as an electrosensitive who becomes ill upon exposure to the electromagnetic/microwave radiation emitted by these cell phones on the ground, and likewise, in the air if this were to be allowed, I'd really like to say that in a free country I ought to be able to live, work, play, and FLY without being irradiated by your cell phone or anybody else's - regardless of who owns the airliner - don't you think?

Put your cell phone down a sec and google the Bioinitiative Report. You have NO right to expose me to EMF/RF in the air (or on the ground, for that matter).

re: Why Can't You Use Your Cell Phone on a Plane?

carrieon — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 01:30:50 GMT

I can't stand to listen to rude people talking on cell phones in publc. Keep them off limits on the airlines.

The same rude people actually have to be reminded in restaurants.

re: Why Can't You Use Your Cell Phone on a Plane?

WAY-OF-LIFE — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 19:52:19 GMT

HEY EVERYBODY, WE ALL KNOW CELL PHONES CAN CAUSE PROBLEMS, TO OUR BRAINS, OR WEATHER WERE DRIVING, ETC. SO FOR, WHATEVER REASON WE CAN'T US THEM ON PLANES IS "WHATEVER". NOW SIT BACK RELAX AND BREATH, AND THINK ABOUT THE TIME WHEN PEOPLE SMOKED ON THE PLANE, OR A POOR CHILD WAS CRYING THEIR BRAINS OUT BECAUSE OF THE PRESSURE, OR THE PERSON WHO WAS KICKING OR PUSHING THE BACK OF YOUR SIT BECAUSE THEY WERE TRYING TO STRETCH, OR SOME PERSONS WHO'S DRUNK. GOT THE PICTURE. GOOD, NOW, THINK WHAT IT WOULD BE LIKE IF WE HAD TO LISTEN TO, I DON'T GIVE A F#&K WHAT THEY SAY, JUST SELL, OR I LOVE YOU TOOOO, I JUST NEED TO GET AWAY FOR THE WEEK WITH YOUR BEST FRIEND, I'LL CALL YOU WHEN I GET BACK OK, OH I GOTTA GO THERE SERVING DRINKS, LOVE YOUUUUU! (PHONE RINGS AGAIN AND AGAIN). KEEP THE PHONES TURN OFF, SIT BACK AND FLY THE FRIENDLY SKY'S. (UNLESS YOUR BEING HIJACKED AND YOU WANT TO SAY GOOD BYE TO YOUR FAMILY). ZEN 808 ITS A WAY OF LIFE. HEALTH, WEALTH, AND HAPPINESS.

re: Why Can't You Use Your Cell Phone on a Plane?

k.is.clayton — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 19:28:05 GMT

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re: Why Can't You Use Your Cell Phone on a Plane?

schnauzermom — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 19:26:33 GMT

Since Dr. M invented the "Blue Tube", maybe he can invent a special anti-radiation pouch to store the cell phone in. Some people cannot have cell phones off, such as EMT's, physicians, police, fire, etc that are "on-call" much of the time and need that cell phone on to be reachable in case of emergencies. I know of several people that are emergency responders that do not sit around waiting for the phone to ring a do go out motorcycle riding, boating where even with a one-way pager, they cannot access a pay phone because pay phones are like dinosaurs . In the type of world we live in, people demand and expect instant response, hence the cell phone makes that possible. Also, I know of people with medical conditions that the cell phone has been their help line and even in one instance has saved their life!

re: Why Can't You Use Your Cell Phone on a Plane?

ChrisS — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 18:06:52 GMT

Another way that individuals who need to be "on call" or readily reached can get out of the constantly on cellular telephone issue is to invest in a high quality one-way pager service. All you need to do is select a coverage area appropriate to your lifestyle or business needs and then selectively use your cellular telephone when needed or find a land line. Some paging services also transmit text messages which I find very helpful. I solved the "finding a land-line problem" by investing in one of those MagicJack internet telephony devices and it works with my laptop very well.

Make sure that you avoid any pagers that verify the message was sent or allow you to reply as they are broadcasting a signal and defeat the purpose of eliminating said radiation near your body.

From my personal experience the best paging network is USA Mobility, formerly known as Arch. I find it very reliable. And scaling down my cellular service to one appropriate for emergency only or occasional use now costs only $26 per month. The yearly pager cost was repaid in 2 1/2 months of cellular service savings!

re: Why Can't You Use Your Cell Phone on a Plane?

Lance Roberts — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 17:59:37 GMT

It is unethical for a company to charge a termination fee, because they are charging for service you are not receiving. In this (rare) case, the government is just protecting the consumer from fraud. Kinda like they will hopefully do soon with credit card companies, since the fine print on credit card agreements says that companies can raise their interest rate whenever they want, i.e. they can break their original agreement.

re: Why Can't You Use Your Cell Phone on a Plane?

Katharine — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 16:57:08 GMT

I have a lot of thoughts on cell phone usage and the dangers but I actually want to write in response to those who are speaking about cell coverage in the sky. I recently managed a blimp campaign in which I worked closely with individuals flying in the gondola of a blimp and their coverage was cutting out frequently at 1500 feet. It seems that most cell towers are set to operate like a floodlight pointed downwards at an angle and there is not a lot of coverage once you get even to that low elevation. Now, satellite based receivers can do quite well at high altitudes and we were considering installing one. I don't know much about 9-11 truth but my guess would be that any cell availability in a commercial plane would be tapping into the plane's own satellite antennae.

re: Why Can't You Use Your Cell Phone on a Plane?

Pen — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 16:00:14 GMT

I understand people having different opinions, but it's interesting that there is some disagreement about the FACTS of cellular communication on airplanes, and how the technology works. What's up with that?

re: Why Can't You Use Your Cell Phone on a Plane?

westerncoloradogirl — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 15:42:39 GMT

I like that cell phones must be turned off, if for no other reason than it makes for a more peaceful flight. Can you imagine the chatter if they were allowed on flights. I don't want to listen to dozens of business calls at once. Ahhhhh!