All 1 entries tagged Plane

Mobile Phones on a Plane

Writing about web page http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7330850.stm

Apparently, early last week, Ofcom okayed the use of mobile phones on airliners at any height above 3km. This has confused me and leads me to the following points:

• What happened to the belief that electronic devices emit harmful pilot killer rays? I always doubted there would be any issues (given the high amount of shielding on the cables), but Health & Safety are usually much harder to convince...
• If mobile phones are capable of transmitting signals between 1.8 miles (3km) and 6.6 miles (cruising altitude of 747, apparently) why do I always have so few bars for the signal strength?
• Isn't the real reason for the ban on mobile phones supposed to be that it encourages people to use the airline's ridiculously expensive built-in phones? Surely, therefore, mobiles are still going to be prohibited...
• Also, why only above 3000m? Why is it dangerous (presumably) below 3km, but perfectly safe above?

: 05 Apr 2008 17:19 |  Tags: Confused Mobile Phone News Ofcom Plane Randomness |  Comments (2) |  Close comments |  Report a problem