The Real Reasons Phones Are Kept Off Planes

jcatcw writes "Mike Elgan argues that the the real reason that cell phones calls are not allowed is fear of crowd control problems if calls are allowed during flight. Also, the airlines like keeping passengers ignorant about ground conditions. The two public reasons, interference with other systems, could easily be tested, but neither the FAA nor the FCC manage to do such testing."

The Author is an Idiot

[Detritus]

Never have I seen so much hand-waving in an article on a technical subject. Either the author is a complete idiot, or he's a member of the John Dvorak school of trolling.

Sure, we could solve the problem if we completely redesigned, modified and tested every susceptible aircraft and cellular network on the planet. That wouldn't cost much money.

Anyone who uses the results of an episode of Mythbusters as proof of anything deserves to be ridiculed.

Re:funny

[Shatrat]

Oh, and good luck with the E911 crap

I think that if you have to call 911 from a plane, them finding your location is the least of your problems.

Re:funny

[Anonymous Coward]

I think that if you have to call 911 from a plane, them finding your location is the least of your problems.

Yeah, you better watch out for the snakes instead.

Too true

[A nonymous Coward]

They should ban kids from carryon luggage and make parents check them.

Re:funny

[Marillion]

I'm pretty sure I don't agree with the crowd control theory either.

In the six years I worked at an airline, I've never heard anyone speak of passengers as negatively as this article does.

Re:Vapidity all round

[Caffeinate]

Learning to spell "the" correctly: two years of elementary school.
Learning to spell "retarded" correctly: two years of high school.

So I guess that puts you somewhere in the grade 9 range? LOLWTFOMG pwnage!!!11!1! (I kid, I kid).

Re:Billions and billions

[jimicus]

I just don't know if I could take it.

Calmly take the cellphone, push it down your underpants and give it a good rub around there. Hand it back, smiling silently.

I guarantee that you won't have to worry about that person putting the cellphone anywhere near their face for the remainder of the flight.

Re:funny

[quick_dry_3]

Oh, and good luck with the E911 crap... In the course of a minute, you've gone from the east end of a major city to the west end according to the cells.

Hello operator, I need a fire truck with a REEEALLY long ladder.

Though if things are that big an emergency, when they need your location it'll be "that big smoking crater".

9/11

[HyoImowano]

Didn't some guy call his wife from one of the 9/11 planes? It's not like that plane cra-wait, nevermind.

Re:9-11?

[Anonymous Coward]

I think the plane crashed because they all used their cell phones.

copied reason

[icepick72]

The Real Reasons Phones Are Kept Off Planes
... fear of crowd control problems...

Heh, it's the exact reason Snakes Are Kept Off Planes

Flamebait

[Toby_Tyke]

I mean, they don't allow you to sit in the cockpit anymore. Another thing islam has ruined.
--
vi VS emacs arguments are pointless and a waste of time.

vi is the best.

Attacking a religion like that is just pure flamebait.

You probably shouldn't have brought up Islam either.

Oh, goodbye karma.

Do we really want cell phones on planes?

[Anonymous Coward]

Imagine a five hour flight with someone yapping on their cellphone the whole time...

Re:funny

[Ed Avis]

That cannot be the real reason. Why would it be the FAA's job and the airline's job to enforce that? Why would they care?

Re:Vapidity all round

[quakehead3]

Congratulations on coming up with the exact opposite meaning to the one that the statement obviously is supposed to convey.

This is slashdot.
You must be new here.

Now we need the *real* reason for no water...

[myowntrueself]

If there is a 'real' reason for no cellphones on planes, I think its about time we found out the *real* reason people are not allowed to bring decent quantities of drinking water on planes.

It is, surely, trivial to test whether a given substance is H2O. I mean, how hard can it be?

It is, surely, trivial to test whether the container has got a false top containing water and the rest of it contains some other (possibly explosive) substance. Those xrays give pretty detailed views plus you could push a probe down the mouth of the bottle and wave it about. They do this to passengers all the time.

Therefore there has to be a reason why passengers are not allowed to bring *water* onto planes.

One theory is that the homeland security guys figured out a way to harm an aircraft by pouring enough water into or onto a certain area of the passenger compartment of the plane; flooding it with a conductive fluid.

Any other offers?
 

Re:funny

[SnowZero]

IIRC, the combo is up up down down left right left right B A.

Re:Well, okay

[IchBinEinPenguin]

I mean, they don't allow you to sit in the cockpit any more.

What, Pilots have to stand nowadays?

I thought they were glorified bus-drivers, not glorified tram-drivers!

Re:Vapidity all round

[Hack'n'Slash]

LOL, good burn. :)

Re:Vapidity all round

[sholden]

You must be new here! :)