Rich Brome of Phone Scoop and David Schloss weigh in on a recent post about whether or not cellphones are actually a threat to aviation. David writes that,
In researching a piece on Lufthansa’s broadband connectivity equipped plane (which I got to fly to Germany) I found out that the ban on cellphones comes from the FCC not the FAA. There have been a few cases where pilots have experienced glitches in their readings, and had the cabin crew check to see if phones were in use, and they were. But that’s circumstantial at best.
And Rich writes in that SAS recently became the first airline to allow the use of cellphones in flight as long as the radio is off, and that trying to make a call in the air isn’t such a good idea anyway:
Actually trying to call someone using your phone probably won’t affect flight safety, but at cruising altitude, it probably won’t work, and if it does, it could wreak havoc on the cell phone network. The networks are designed with the assumption that you’re on the ground, where there are usually only a handful of nearby towers within range. But at 35,000 feet, you’ll typically have simultaneous, clear line-of-sight to dozens of towers, some very far apart from each other. Plus, you’re moving much faster than you ever would on the ground. Because of those issues, even if you just leave your phone switched on and don’t talk to anyone, it can cause all sorts of problems for the cell phone network.
