Airline wireless rules for converged devices?

quovadis7 · 03-02-07, 06:25 PM

A mildly annoying thing happened as I was flying home last night from a business trip in Chicago, while enjoying some tunes on my X50V....

As the flight attendants were about to ask me for my drink request, one told me that I had to power off and stow my X50V (he thought it was a phone). I told him that it was "only a PDA", but he told me that didn't matter and that I had to shut it off and stow it anyway. Only after I convinced him that my handheld had no cell phone capability at all did he relent.

This scenario seems like a situation in which "upgrading" to a converged device (i.e. PPC/PDA + cell phone) might be a disaster or at least a major annoyance for someone who frequently travels on commercial airlines.

My questions:

1) Does anyone know if there are any official FAA fules to support that converged devices can be used on a plane so long as they are in "flight mode" (i.e. all wireless transmitters off, including Bluetooth, WiFi, and cellphone)?

2) Despite any favorable FAA regs, does a flight attendent have the authority to force someone with a converged handheld device to shut off and stow their device, and if so is there any way recourse to convince them that it is OK so long as the device is operated in "flight mode"? Even if the flight attendant is wrong, by law one HAS to comply with their order, which would be a real kick in the head! :realmad:

Looking forward to the replies....

Aximsite & its members rock! :approve:

Steve B
quovadis7

borgyn · 03-02-07, 07:49 PM

I can't say that that I know the innards of FAA regulations, however if a steward(ess) is deligent in their task because of passenger safety, that is a good thing but if it is out of ignorance that requires education.

Afterall if someone else with a converged device were to power on and interfere with plane systems, it could become disasatrous. Hopefully it would not come to that. The difference in the funtionality of PDAs is only obvious to the users.

jadesse · 03-02-07, 09:20 PM

I Fly quite frequently. You can use any type of device as long as it doesn't transmit. This includes phone as long as the transmit function can be disabled. I would depend on what type of device you have.

I think that whole FAA rule is a bunch of BS. Your phone isn't going to have any signal at 30K ft anyway. The RF signal from a cell phone can effect communications equipment but it isn't going to cause a plan to crash.

control · 03-02-07, 09:43 PM

Originally Posted by jadesse

I think that whole FAA rule is a bunch of BS. Your phone isn't going to have any signal at 30K ft anyway. The RF signal from a cell phone can effect communications equipment but it isn't going to cause a plan to crash.

That may be true but stray RF signals can have strange and unexpected effects on electronic equipment. I have personally witnessed several incidents where a walkie-talkie keyed near a control panel for a piece of industrial equipment caused the machine to go completely haywire. Many plants I have worked in have a no walkie-talkie rule just for this reason.

cbs01 · 03-03-07, 01:07 AM

Originally Posted by jadesse

I Fly quite frequently. You can use any type of device as long as it doesn't transmit. This includes phone as long as the transmit function can be disabled. I would depend on what type of device you have.

I think that whole FAA rule is a bunch of BS. Your phone isn't going to have any signal at 30K ft anyway. The RF signal from a cell phone can effect communications equipment but it isn't going to cause a plan to crash.

I have not personally tried to use my phone while flying, but what makes you thing you cannot get a cell signal at 30,000 ft. That's only 5.5 miles, and cell towers in SK are probably 25 or more miles apart.

03-04-07, 01:38 AM

We flew on AA yesterday. The "official" announcement over the PA was that "you can use allowed devices now. If they have a wireless feature then turn off that feature before using them." They always say that the list of allowed devices is in the back of their magazine, and I've never had to actually check the list to see what it says. Maybe some of this information is on their website.

I noticed that a passenger 2 rows in front of me was watching a movie on their device, and I could actually see it fairly well from 2 rows back. Before the flight I noticed them using a device that looked like a Blackberry or Nokia E62, so at first I thought they were watching the movie on this device. After we landed they had the phone out again and I thought maybe the screen aspect ratio wasn't quite the same as the movie they were watching so I wondered if they were watching something liek a video ipod instead. Also I noticed that the guy sitting beside us had a Blackberry-type device, and I saw several of them in the airport. Maybe I'm in the minority with a cellphone that only makes phone calls.

tj42 · 03-05-07, 08:43 AM

Interesting article on the subject: http://edition.cnn.com/2006/TRAVEL/0...nes/index.html

borgyn · 03-05-07, 08:54 AM

Well spotted tj.

03-05-07, 09:07 AM

That was an old story (March 3,2006) and the findings seem to change all the time. When the do get around to letting us use the phone during flight it will be after a great deal of actual testing and most likely an upgrade to shielding of sensitive equimpent. Not much to worry about. And yes, cell phones will work during flight but you may get much greater call drops since you are transfering fairly quickly from tower to tower and system to system.

axzilla · 03-05-07, 09:40 AM

if a cell phone could actually cause a plane to crash why would they allow them on planes at all ? The flight attendant can say no transmitting but that wouldnt stop a terrorist from turning their phone on if they knew it would cause the plane to crash.