Congress tries to ban cell phone use on aircraft.

[Ameroth]

Re: Congress tries to ban cell phone use on aircraft.

I think this is yet another one of those things where if the private company wants to ban it or put restrictions on it on their flights, then thats fine.
But its really none of the government's fk'ing business.

Exactly. If each business makes it a regulation, fine. Your business. Your calls (no pun). Last time I checked, governments telling businesses how to run was communism.

[Vyuru]

Re: Congress tries to ban cell phone use on aircraft.

/shrug

Whether it can mess up the instruments or not, and by instruments I'm sure they mean the radio/communications stuff because nothing else should be affected, do you even want the chance of some asshate disrupting plane-tower communications?

Planes carry alot of people, collisions between landing aircraft and aircraft taking off are not a pretty sight.

Frankly, to my knowledge cellphone use hasn't been allowed for so long on public airplanes that I don't really care if this is put into law or not.

[Feba]

Re: Congress tries to ban cell phone use on aircraft.

do you even want the chance of some asshate disrupting plane-tower communications?

How about we go around slaughtering butterflies; on the off chance that one of them would flap their wings in such a way as to cause a horrific storm to hit a small South Asian country? Think of the horrible foreign relations it would cause if we ignored the butterfly threat, and millions died. It's only logical to kill as many butterflies as possible, before they kill us.

If that were a valid point, we'd have to ban all cell phone communications at or around airports-- which isn't gonna happen. Hell, we'd have to ban them pretty much everywhere, just in case some plane flying overhead were interrupted. I live near an airport, and I'm directly under one of the paths that incoming aircraft go through all the time. I'm not aware of any accidents caused by the electrical interference my cell phone has caused; let alone all of my other electrical equipment which runs 24/7, or that of my neighbors. And those are much smaller aircraft, and likely a fair deal of them very much out of date and poorly maintained.

This is the government trying to legislate the way people act. Nothing more. Read the articles listed in the OP, legislators are openly saying their reasons for this, and they have jackshit to do with safety.

[Vyuru]

Re: Congress tries to ban cell phone use on aircraft.

Think about it please before getting all sarcastic.

There is still the issue with Bluetooth/Wi-Fi, and more of that being available in the cockpit, so that regardless of encryption or not, I darn well don't want anyone on the plane playing with their electronics during takeoff/landing. In flight, I don't care so much.

Also there is a huge difference between using a cellphone on a plane where you are probably within 80 ft of the radio equipment, vs being near a runway where I'd be surprised if you were able to get closer than 200 yards by the time the plane has commited itself and is landing no matter what.

And regardless of being smaller aircraft or not, they must have a certain level of maintenance otherwise the FAA will yank that airplane off of the field and most likely can whoever was responsible for maintaining that aircraft.

Hence why Alaska got in so much trouble a few years ago.

Also, they could be saying that they're doing this to prevent the bogeyman from getting our kids for all I care, but it doesn't change my standpoint that this is a safety issue and for something like this I think it is far better to be safe than sorry.

No, it shouldn't happen and it should be fine to use things like cellphones while on a plane. But when you start talking about having 200+ people in an airplane, and when you start thinking of the damage that airplane can do to others, do you really want to take that chance?

[Yellow Mage]

Re: Congress tries to ban cell phone use on aircraft.

No, it shouldn't happen and it should be fine to use things like cellphones while on a plane. But when you start talking about having 200+ people in an airplane, and when you start thinking of the damage that airplane can do to others, do you really want to take that chance?

Anyone that sacrifices freedom for safety deserves neither.

[Feba]

Re: Congress tries to ban cell phone use on aircraft.

Anyone that sacrifices freedom for safety deserves neither.

This isn't a matter of freedom, really. If there WERE a legitimate safety concern, banning phone use would hardly be infringing on someone's rights. Vyuru just refuses to accept that it IS NOT a safety issue.

[Kitalrez]

Re: Congress tries to ban cell phone use on aircraft.

Good on Congress! For once they're doing something I agree with.

You can take those safety concerns/justifications and blow them out your ass for all I care. I have different issues when I fly. Let's say for the sake of argument that I'm going to New Zealand. The flight from Salt Lake City to Aukland is about 16 hours straight. That's 16 fucking hours I'm stuck in a confined space with you. Maybe you're one of those brave few cellphone users who don't discuss your health problems or sexual prowess/lack thereof to every person in earshot. But you could just as well be a 14 year old girl. Being stuck anywhere for 16 hours next to a 14 year old girl on the phone is pretty close to my version of Hell. I can promise you 14 year old girls using phones next to me that when we land in Aukland, all of the following will need to be surgically removed from you:

1. You phone.
2. Your purse.
3. Any portable gaming device/laptop you own.
4. Either or both parents should they attempt to stop me from cramming the rest of this list up your...
5. Any stewardesses or air marshalls who attempt to stop me from ...
6. One standard yellow tennisball as a twisted homage to "The Far Side".

Don't give me any of that: "But that violates the laws of physics/basic human anatomy" bullshit, either. I was a marine. I take Karate. I'll make it fit. Also, Feba and Ameroth can kiss my hairy, white...

[Armando]

Re: Congress tries to ban cell phone use on aircraft.

Ok, so you want to ban annoying behavior. Good luck.

[Neomage]

Re: Congress tries to ban cell phone use on aircraft.

Good on Congress! For once they're doing something I agree with.

You can take those safety concerns/justifications and blow them out your ass for all I care. I have different issues when I fly. Let's say for the sake of argument that I'm going to New Zealand. The flight from Salt Lake City to Aukland is about 16 hours straight. That's 16 fucking hours I'm stuck in a confined space with you. Maybe you're one of those brave few cellphone users who don't discuss your health problems or sexual prowess/lack thereof to every person in earshot. But you could just as well be a 14 year old girl. Being stuck anywhere for 16 hours next to a 14 year old girl on the phone is pretty close to my version of Hell. I can promise you 14 year old girls using phones next to me that when we land in Aukland, all of the following will need to be surgically removed from you:

1. You phone.
2. Your purse.
3. Any portable gaming device/laptop you own.
4. Either or both parents should they attempt to stop me from cramming the rest of this list up your...
5. Any stewardesses or air marshalls who attempt to stop me from ...
6. One standard yellow tennisball as a twisted homage to "The Far Side".

Don't give me any of that: "But that violates the laws of physics/basic human anatomy" bullshit, either. I was a marine. I take Karate. I'll make it fit. Also, Feba and Ameroth can kiss my hairy, white...

As much as I agree with you, I have just one thing to say to this:

Get some goddamn earplugs. Or mufflers. Or whatever you want to use. Really, they do work, quite well I might add.

[Caspian]

Re: Congress tries to ban cell phone use on aircraft.

Kit:
A. What kind of superphone lets you talk for 14 hours straight? I know a lot of flights have power ports, but taking a converter so you can talk while charging your phone is probably something not everyone will plan ahead for.
B. If you can get a cell phone signal over the middle of the Pacific, grats to you. I've had a signal over land, but I'm guessing there were cell sites below me somewhere abouts. Now a Sat phone would be different, but those things are still ridiculously expensive and the minute plans would bankrupt you for a 14 hour flight.

I can understand not wanting some ridiculously loud person chatting on the phone next to you for an entire flight, but we're talking about the FAA. They've landed flights and detained people for being loud and obnoxious without a phone. Its not like the airlines themselves don't have the right to put restrictions on it. If it starts to become an annoyance to those around them they could ask you to put it away.
Plus, I've not been on many flights where people who are flying together talk to eachother that much. The fact is planes are typically fairly difficult places to talk, they do a lot to muffle the sounds of the engines, but it can still be a problem.

And again we return to the fact that its not Congress's business to make laws because they want to. If it was actually a safety issue, then yes, I could see a possible reason they would be able to pass a law about it, but to pass a law outlawing cell phones because people might find it annoying, thats just none of their damn business.

[TheGrandMom]

Re: Congress tries to ban cell phone use on aircraft.

This:

www.kansascity.com | 08/17/2008 | Lawmakers aim to keep cell phones out of the skies

"It’s not waterboarding and it’s not the rack. But for many airline passengers, it’s close.

The idea of turning an airplane into a flying phone booth with hundreds of passengers prattling away on cell phones is enough to send any frequent flier running for the cabin door.

“That would be painful,” said Keith Gusich, a frequent business traveler from Overland Park. “If you have to trap 100 people on a plane and listen to someone banter back and forth for an hour or two, that would be just downright miserable.”

Phone etiquette — or the lack thereof — has some members of Congress so outraged that they are pushing a bill that would ensure that cell phones do not become the latest addition to the pantheon of pain.

The bill — called the Halting Airplane Noise to Give Us Peace Act, or HANG UP for short — would make permanent the current ban on cell phone use during commercial flights.

The move comes as Europe is relaxing its restrictions on in-flight cell phone use and as some airlines are planning to offer wireless Internet to passengers.

“A plane full of people talking on their cell phones seems like madness to me,” said U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a Missouri Democrat.

Some members of Congress already are in a tizzy about passengers who use cell phones only before takeoffs and after touchdowns.

At a recent committee hearing, they traded stories, including one in which a passenger openly discussed her sex life on the phone and another who received a “Dear John” call from a lover.

Congress now wants to make sure it has a voice in any change.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the Federal Communications Commission both ban in-flight cell phone use on commercial flights, for different reasons.

The FAA does not want to risk phones affecting an airplane’s instrumentation. The FCC restricts cell phones because they could potentially disrupt wireless communications on the ground.

The FCC announced plans in 2004 to relax the ban, but it scrapped the idea last year because it didn’t get enough information to know whether cell phones would harm ground communications.

The FAA does not intend to lift the ban as long it believes there is a potential for cell phones to interfere with a plane’s electronic systems, said spokeswoman Alison Duquette.

“We’ve had no move to allow them,” Duquette said “We have not seen any evidence to date that would sway us to allow them.”

But backers of the HANG UP bill don’t want to take any chances.

Under the bill, changing the cell phone ban would take an act of Congress, but passengers would still be allowed to use the Internet and e-mail and send text messages.

The bill has passed out of a House committee, and the full House could vote on it early this fall.

It’s a politically risky proposition, since the country is about evenly split on whether cell phones should be allowed during commercial flights.

A poll out last week showed that 45 percent of Americans want cell phones banned on planes, while about 40 percent would like to use them. About 15 percent had no opinion.

Cell phones were more eagerly embraced by younger fliers who grew up with technology, according to the poll by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

Almost half of those between 18 and 34 supported cell phones on planes, compared with about a quarter of those 65 or older.

Some fliers are conflicted on the issue, unsure whether it’s a convenience or a nuisance."

is because of this:

Burning Question: Why Can't I Use My Cell Phone on a Plane?

"As long as you're willing to pay for it, you can now do pretty much whatever you want on an airplane: Hop on Wi-Fi, watch movies, play videogames, and in some first-class cabins you can even, ahem, recline with a friend. So why can't you use a cell phone? Despite what fear-mongering flight attendants say, making a call probably won't send your plane on a collision course with a tropical island populated by smoke monsters and Evangeline Lilly.

Sure, your mobile can interfere with avionics — in theory. But in practice, it's far from likely. Cockpits and communications systems have been protected against electromagnetic meddling through safeguards like shielded wiring and support structures since the 1960s.

So why the resistance? Part of it, naturally, comes from the call carriers. When phones ping for signals at 35,000 feet, they can hit hundreds of towers at once, necessitating complicated parsing of roaming agreements. Providers don't want the hassle if they're not being properly compensated, so the government has left the plane ban in place.

Although the technical problem is not insurmountable, the carriers, the FCC, and the FAA are not just being lazy — there's simply not enough demand for them to act. "Americans don't want to be stuck next to some Chatty Cathy bragging about last night's conquest," says Henry Harteveldt, an airline-industry analyst at Forrester. The research firm has conducted surveys showing that only 16 percent of US fliers are interested in using cell phones on planes; most people are vehemently opposed.

OnAir, an Airbus spinoff that peddles air-to-ground communications, is banking on the assumption that travelers outside the US are more eager for their service. The company already has an airborne cellular system in European trials, and by year's end it plans to outfit dozens of planes. OnAir gets around the roaming issue by creating an independent cellular network in each plane and a "noise floor" that masks the bird from terrestrial towers.

If the model proves profitable, then it's probably inevitable that cell service will earn its wings. "We're convinced that Americans love their cell phones as much as Euros or Asians," says David Russell, COO of OnAir. "But in the US, everyone likes to wait and see." Chatty Cathy might get her captive audience after all."

[Yellow Mage]

Re: Congress tries to ban cell phone use on aircraft.

Europe is ahead of us on this, for crying out loud!

[TheGrandMom]

Re: Congress tries to ban cell phone use on aircraft.

Europe is ahead of us on this, for crying out loud!