The second paragraph - sure, fine. I think that's what we all want to know.
The second paragraph - sure, fine. I think that's what we all want to know.
I don't see a problem with the logic. If personal electronic devices could truly cause interference, then just reminding people to turn off devices seems like pretty weak protection.
How many people intentionally or unintentionally leave an electronic device powered on during any given flight? I know I've forgotten to turn off my phone a couple of times in the past.
Only going as far as reminding people to turn off devices is the equivalent of airport security checkpoints that just have a person standing there reminding people to remove dangerous items from their bags before boarding.
No, but I would expect one of the pilots to notice something that looks, smells, or feels like electronic interference, and ask the FA's to make an announcement asking everyone to make sure their devices are off because actual interference has been found and is causing a problem.
The typical pilot's mindset is, "Fly the plane but, when a problem occurs, stop focusing on flying the plane and solve/identify the problem. Once the problem is solved/identified, get back to flying the plane." You're effectively wanting to change this to something more like, "Fly the plane but, when a problem occurs, stop focusing on flying the plane and solve/identify the problem except if the problem is 'electrical interference'. If that's the case, ask yet again that people turn their phones off. Hopefully they'll listen this time. Wait for all of the people to comply and, once the problem is solved, get back to flying the plane."
It just sounds silly, doesn't it? I think we'd all agree that, if there's a problem with electrical interference during flight, we want the pilot to be flying the plane rather than having him/her wait for the passengers to do anything. Again - I'm not arguing whether this is right/wrong; I'm simply pointing out that the logic of having a pilot wait on passenger behaviors before being able to continue doing his/her job is a bit silly.
Why? Because anyone who has flown and forgot to put their phone in airplane mode and didn't experience a firey death can attest, the usual warnings lack both urgency and a factual connection to reality. Having them announce "there is a problem due to interference" solves both of these.
If a passenger's device is causing actual interference, then what other option does the pilot have?
You want pilots to be troubleshooting malfunctioning avionics and summoning FA's to try to find someone's iPhone during a critical phase of flight, for no other reason than to allow a passenger the convenience of not having to shut his phone off? No thanks.
Hearing, "if there's problems, we'll just have the FA's make an annoucement" doesn't exactly quiet my concerns. If we're going to be using our smartphones on airplanes I want it to be after thorough, deliberate, conclusive testing has been done that proves that the aircraft is safe to fly with hundreds of cell phones transmitting in the passenger compartment.
If the radios are simply on, link layer protocols will be transmitting control signals that can easily be detected with something as simple as a smart phone.
Flying in the upper atmosphere? Loads of radiation. A lot more than any phone.