SITA and Mobile Phones
 

SITA are currently trialling a system of a mobile phone repeater in a passenger jet that will mean you don't get the base station hop explained before.

It also means that the airlines will be able to collect a premium for the airtime usage by mobile phone customers.

So, it is all about money.

But don't forget, fear is always the biggest motivator in any sale. So keep believing people.

Binos I had also heard that it was more a problem with how a telecommunications company billed you.

Mind you how do they do it in the States? I was reminded of this whilst recently viewing a 9/11 reconstruction of events leading up to the crash into the Twin Towers.

Two of the flight attendants were speaking to their airline's ops dept using their mobiles right up until the end.

I noticed recently on Qantas longhaul the safety data says "Blackberry" style mobiles can be operated during cruise flight, and I think another mobile was listed as OK as well. Perhaps thre is a market for mobile manufacturer's to make interference free units

I've always thought that regardless of any real or perceived risk of mobile phones in flight, it would really piss you off listening to a hundred phones over the intercom "checking in" to their service when getting in range. I know it's annoying enough hearing 1 or 2 when you're trying to listen to your clearance.

dit dit da da da dit
dit da da dit dit etc etc x 100

Howard hughes, the "correct and caught on film" quote refers to the fact that explosions are a fact and have been caught on film, not that they're caused by cell phones.

Aerocat S2A, I stand corrected! ;)

Cheers, HH.

:ok:

The replies on this thread seem to head in all sorts of directions.

"Can mobiles ignite fuel?". Absolutely. Most mobiles these days have lithium batteries - poorly-manufactured batteries can and do explode. A fault (typically a short) on a mobile can also cause a high enough temperature rise on a component to ignite flammable gasses. Generally a fault of some sort or other is required for a mobile to ignite fuel - normally-functioning mobiles will not. But how do you know your mobile does not have a fault? You don't.

Specially-manufactured intrinsically-safe mobiles do exist - but they are not cheap.

"Can mobiles cause avionics equipment problesm?" Not my area of expertise, but there does seem to be examples. Better wiring and avionics standards will help this, but will take decades to become standard.

"Are mobiles on aircraft a nuisance?" Subjective opinion - the answer seems to be 'no' if it's your mobile, 'yes' if it's anyone elses.

UK CAA Documents
 

For info, the Safety Regulation Group of the UK CAA has released a number of documents that are relevant to the discussions on this thread.

Ibex: Agreed, the risk is low, but the UK CAA advises operators to still exercise caution when using PEDs during aircraft refuelling:pullock: Anecdotal evidence from a number of pilots and the results of this controlled experiment conducted by the UK CAA would appear to contradict your claim: http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/CAPAP2003_03.PDF