Originally Posted by Kiwiguy
Incidentally if they are so sure that it is JUST a "crazy idea" then why are they so scared to debate it?
They are not scared to debate it, they know that it is a waste of their time.
And for good reason. Electromagnetic interference has long been known about, it is taken into account during design, and validated in HIRF test facilities. The field intensities in these test environments is orders of magnitude higher than what arrives at the engine location from a cell phone.
The FADECs in the engine are among the most heavily shielded electronics. Same goes for other flight critical system. They will not be disturbed by the puny little emissions of a cell phone.
(Navigation system are another matter, they receive electromagnetic radiation from the outside
by design, and are thus inherently vulnerable to EMI. Same goes for communication systems, obviously.)
Bernd