I, like many of you I’m sure, had the
misfortune of having to go to the airport over the holidays. While I
love my family and it’s always great to see them, traveling is such a
hassle and of all the methods of transportation I’ve taken, flying
has to be the more cumbersome. First you have to con someone into
taking you to the airport and someone to pick you up if you want to
avoid the cost of parking. Next you have a choice of paying to check
a bag if you want to bring a razor or full size bottle of shampoo or
carrying on a bag and buy stuff at the other end. Then, you go
through security where you have to take out all liquids and your
laptop, take off your shoes, belts, jackets, hats, etc. and put all
of this, along with any bag, through the X-ray machine. Then you get
to walk through those lovely new scanners and may or may not face a
pat down.
After passing that point you have to
scramble to collect your things and as quickly as possible shove them
back in your bags so you don’t annoy the person behind you. Once in
the terminal you wait to board. Someone gets on an intercom and makes
an announcement that they are ready to board your plane which is
usually impossible to hear. Then the boarding process begins and I’m
sorry, it makes no sense. While I get that people pay extra to get on
first, just slows down the whole process. They should board from the
back of the plane. Period. It would avoid so many problems. But I
digress. After waiting for all of those people to get on, you get
called by zone. Once you get called and you are trying to get on the
plan the most annoying part of the process begins. Because many
airlines now require you to pay for checked bags, people carry on
their luggage and no one tells these people that their bags are too
big. They try to jam their bags in the overhead compartments or under
the seat and when they don’t fit, they get upset and everyone else
has to wait for the bag to be checked.
Once you get through all of that, the
plane takes off and you have to deal with your neighbor elbowing you
or snoring through the whole trip. Or maybe there’s a screaming
baby/child on board to entertain you. Then you land and have to wait
for everyone to get their stowed bags.
If you are lucky and you have a direct
flight then it’s over. If not you have to repeat the latter half of
this rant.
All of that being said, flying is
almost always the most efficient way to travel. Although it can be
pricey, you will more times than now, save hours of your time. Not to
mention it’s the safest way to travel. There is 1 accident for every
1.2 million flights; this includes ANY type of accidents in ANY type
of aircraft. There’s about a 1 in 10 million chance of a commercial
plane crash and even if a plane crashes it’s a misconception that you
are doomed; you have about an 80% chance of surviving. The chance of
dying in a plane crash is about 1 in 9.2 million. It’s much more
likely to die on the way to the airport. It’s even more likely that
you’ll win the lottery.
Of course this doesn’t stop people from
being afraid. There are a few reasons for this. One is that when a
plane crashes it usually is catastrophic and sensationalized in the
media. When something happens so rarely, it always newsworthy.
Another reason is that people feel out of control when they are
flying. Not only are they not piloting the plane, they can’t even see
what’s going on in the cock-pit. Finally… people are irrational.
Facts don’t always keep emotions at bay. And I include myself in that
statement. Quite often I am nervous about flying and have to repeat
these facts in my head over and over again until I snap back to
reality.
But all of that is only indirectly
related to the question I am trying to answer. It was inspired by the
guy next to me on the plane (the least annoying of the four people I
was forced to sit next to). As a plane takes off and lands, you have
to turn off all electronic devices. Since he was involved with a game
of Angry Birds, he was huffing and puffing about having to comply.
Which got me to thinking… is this is actually necessary?
Well, let’s start with the position of
the FAA. Portable electronic device (PEDs) are now carried by almost
everyone. There are still many unknowns about the radio signals that
cell phones and other PEDs give off. There is a chance that they
could interfere with the flight instruments. These instruments use a
pitot-static system to determine things like airspeed, Mach number,
altitude and altitude trend. Such systems are a composition of
sensors that detect air pressure (or pitot pressure) and static
pressure taking into account temperature, density, pressure and
viscosity of fluids. There electrical, magnetic and vacuum components
to such instruments.
This fear may not be that far fetched.
A compute monitor, for example can be effected by electromagnetic
fields which a cell phone emits. So if you ever hear a strange
magnetic sound right before the phone rings and until you pick up the
phone, you now know the reason. You may also notice this with
speakers, radios, etc. This is usually only way a phone is near these
devices. If your phone is on the other side of the room you have no
problem. The same thing, in theory, could happen with flight
instruments in an airplane.
So I guess one could ask why not just
say that the pilot isn’t allowed to have a cell phone? There are some
arguments that it is the collective use of phones and other PEDs that
emit electromagnetic fields that would be a problem. Others claim
there is no actual reason for this especially with modern cell
phones. But I think the overall message I found from experts is that
the jury is still out on this one and it’s better to be safe than
sorry. Taking off and landing are the most critical parts of a flight
so it’s important that the plane and ground control have
uninterrupted communications. Also during these critical times, the
captain will want to have the attention of the passengers. It’s hard
to hear announcements when you have headphones on or are engaged in
other activities.
As technology advances, this rule will
most likely be a thing of the past. In fact, some flights even have a
WiFi system that people can use for a fee. These systems have to
undergo a great deal of testing to ensure that it is safe to have on
board.
My final thought? I hope that sometime
soon they will realize that an e-reader, mp3 player, smart phone or
laptop with the wireless signal disabled is safe to use and you don’t
have to put it away to take off or land. The issue there is of course
trusting people to turn off the wireless signal…
I must admit though that I hope cell
phone use, for making calls that is, continues to be prohibited. Does
anyone want to sit on a three hour flight having to listen to the
person next to them talk loudly to their friend who they are
traveling to see about getting their nails done? Or listen to one
side of a business deal? I don’t think so…