Why the FAA May Finally Relax In-Flight Device Rules 278
Nick Bilton at the New York Times has been writing skeptically for years about the FAA's ban on even the most benign electronic devices during takeoff and landing on commercial passenger flights. He writes in the NYT's Bits column about the gradual transformation that may (real soon now) result in slightly more sensible rules; a committee established to review some of those in-flight rules has recommended the FAA ease up, at least on devices with no plausible negative effect on navigation. From the article: "The New York Times employed EMT Labs, an independent testing facility in Mountain View, Calif., to see if a Kindle actually gave off enough electromagnetic emissions to affect a plane. The findings: An Amazon Kindle emitted less than 30 microvolts per meter when in use. That is only 0.00003 of a volt. A Boeing 747 must withstand 200 volts per square meter. That is millions of Kindles packed into each square meter of the plane. Still, the F.A.A. said “No.” ... But then something started to change: society." Of course, the rules that committees recommend aren't always the ones that prevail on the ground or in the sky.
Questions (Score:5, Interesting)
How does the government shutdown affect the FAA's ability to make these sorts of policy changes? I would assume that the people who make these decisions have been furloughed, so all existing regulations stand until Congress gets their heads out of their asses?
Also, is there any danger posed by dozens of Kindles flying around the cabin in the event of a crash landing? I realize the current regulations allow non-electronic items such as books, but is this a concern at all?
It's encouraging to see these kinds of changes coming. I'm glad the FAA is revisiting this issue (or will be once we start paying them again).
Re: I know the rules are bogus (Score:2, Interesting)
This is plus two? I left my shit on and I'm alive so that's proof that electronics don't interfere with the radio or instruments? Maybe the copilots radar altimeter went wonky due to you and you only were saved from potential disaster because autopilot was fed from the captain's instruments?
Your statement is less then meaningless. Nothing very well may have happend and and very likely didn't, but maybe you added one link to a causality chain which could have occured, but did not.
Re:Like the reporter has a clue... (Score:5, Interesting)
If a malfunctioning kindle can generate enough RF to possibly interfere with a plane, then a malicious attacker could *certainly* interfere with a plane. If a device running on a few watts of power can fuck up a plane this badly then I don't want to get on it.
Re:Like the reporter has a clue... (Score:5, Interesting)
I'd be more concerned with a bunch of cell phones, each with a GPS receiver built in, interfering with the aircraft's GPS based systems.
You can rest assured that that scenario has been thoroughly tested. When the flight attendants tell people to shut off their electronic devices and stow them, many if not most people simply shut off the screen, believing that means "off", or simply not giving a damn. The GPS and cell functions continue merrily running for the whole flight, including takeoff and landing. Since planes aren't falling out of the sky already, it's almost certainly safe enough.
A lot of people have no clue what "airplane mode" is or what it's for, and there probably are also a lot people who have no inkling of even how to actually power down their phones. None of this is enforced anyway, beyond checking that someone isn't blatantly operating a screen.
Re:Seems simple enough (Score:5, Interesting)
If that's what you really want to do, use a camera that isn't an electronic device.
They do make them. They use this really neat non-electric technology called 'film'. You can even get one that doesn't take batteries at all, if you don't need a flash!
Re:Like the reporter has a clue... (Score:5, Interesting)
Even if you know perfectly well what "airplane mode" is, if the plane is about to take off and you remember that your phone is in your briefcase, in the overheard storage compartment 5 rows from your seat*, do you ask to abort the takeoff so you can get up and turn it off? I didn't think so.
I bet every commercial airline flight takes off with at least one fully activated phone.
* Has happened to me, when I am in a rush and stick my phone in the briefcase going through security.
Re:Like the reporter has a clue... (Score:4, Interesting)
Shoot, I will tell you there are a few times I have forgotten to turn my phone to airplane mode. I have gone to get my phone out of my pocket when we get to the gate to tell my ride I have arrived and found my phone on, with the GPS functioning, with text messages and e-mails that somehow came through while we were in the air (not sure what the range of a cell tower is - I certainly doubt that I could place a phone call - or rather maintain a signal if I were to acquire one). Guess what, the plane didn't fall out of the sky.
I normally just put the phone into airplane mode to save my battery.
As for tablett / ereader - I just normally just turn the screen off during take off and landing as they take a while to power up from a complete shutdown. The eReader has no WiFi, and I rarely turn the WiFi on on the tablett. Even if the WiFi is on, is anything in the plane operating in the 2.4GHz spectrum?
I know many people who have shot video out of the plane window during takeoff and landing. No planes have fallen from the sky.
If planes were really that sensitive, they should be askign to check all electronic devices and have no one carry them on board, then the xray screeners and bag handlers would be required to open up each bag and verify it to be shut off.
Also, if planes were that sensitive, they shouldn't be allowed to fly. Every piece of consumer electronic device out there has requirements where - not only must it limit how much interfearence it puts out, but it has to be able to accept a certain piece of interference. Otherwise - OH NO, my reciever is going to cause my Blu-Ray player to shut off! My speakers are going to cause distortions to my monitor (actually had this issue with my first pair of PC speakers). If consumer electronics are regulated to accept certain levels of interfearence, certainly planes are.
You know, I have even had some flight attendants come by and tell me to put up my eReader. Not shut it off, just put it away. No radio, barely draws power except when it redraws the screen. For the first and last 20 minutes of the flight.
I have friends who are pilot hobbiest. Single and twin engine planes. They say that they have their phones on, laptop powered up, iPod going, tablett powered up in the cockpit, and it has never caused as much as a glitch.
Pretty much, unless someone is trying to operate a ham radio on board or trying to operate a high-power radio station from in the air or running a power plant, I doubt that any electronic device would have any effect whatsoever on the plane's electronics.
Here is an interesting question - what are the regulations on flights that do not cross US airspace? Do they have these regulations? Can someone living in Europe, Asia, India, Africa, Austrailia, or South America let me know how flights are regulated there?