Airband scanner on commercial flight.
 

Does anyone know if i can use my airband scanner whilst on a commercial flight as PAX?

Does it vary from airline to airline? Is it at crew's discretion? Is it a no no full stop?


Out.

Almost certainly not. Despite being a receiver it will have a local oscillator, and it is the risk that this causes interference that will preclude it from being used whilst in flight.

Wow, I bet oldtora would be fun to sit next to on a long flight :rolleyes:

I assume by "electronic gadgets" you are lumping absolutely everything into it - MP3/portable media players, laptops, games consoles etc...

In which case it isn't always "against the rules, waste of money, waste of time".

Many airlines allow the use of these items in flight (usually, for laptops and games consoles, with the prerequisite that wireless devices (bluetooth, WLAN) are turned off). And I'm sure many people would prefer to watch their favourite DVD than the IFE from time to time... Or learn a foreign language on their MP3 player... Or keep the kids quiet with their favourite game... etc etc etc

If it has a sticking out antenna they might not even let you have it in the cabin. Transceivers are not welcome but since the sort of person they hire to search your bag cannot tell the difference between receiver and transceiver they just tell them to stop anything radio-like that has an antenna.

Deltayankee

I've had my scanner on many flights in my hand baggage, but never used it. Getting it on the a/c isnt a problem.

People still read books?!

e-books, at least:ok:

I would have to be concentrating to make it worth while, because if not i would miss a hand over.

I ALWAYS turn off my mobile before leaving the terminal, and if I were using my scanner in-flight i would be using earphones.

Why can't anyone ask a simple question on Pprune without people going off on rants? :ugh:

TurningFinals:

I regularly take my airband scanner on board airlines in the UK and US and have never had any problems. The reception from the cockpit is crystal clear, but being able to hear the other end of the conversation varies from type to type. Good luck: and yes, concentrate for that handover. It can be mighty frustrating when they readback the next freq way too quickly and you lose them!

Thank you CuriousEngineer!

All i wanted was a simple answer to a simple question.

I'm a dangerous nutter in that I always leave my mobile on. If it was more dangerous than my yoghurt I don't think it's should even be allowed on board. Hence it's not really....

No problems ever getting the scanner through security except once in ZRH when I had to show them the antenna wasn't dangerous.

Here is a simple answer.

No you may not use your airband scanner on a commercial flight. No debate, it is not allowed. Same goes for your mobile phone. Once you have been told it's use is not permitted in anything other than "flight mode" you will be in violation of both statute and instructions if you continue to do so, with all the attendant risks that carries.

Do AA still have an ATC channel you can listen in to on their IFE system ?

Don't know about AA, but UA have it on international flights at least.