Know why Cellphones must be turn off during flight

Nowadays cellphones are very essential in our daily lives, no one can satisfy his or her days now without cellphone in the pocket. Career oriented individuals basically spend a lot of time with their Cellphones than other things in their lives, how much more if they are 10,000 feet above the ground and 2 to 3 hours flight hours? Can they still communicate with their clients, love-ones, and whoever they are calling to? The answer is No! But let us try to tackle important facts why your cellphones should be turned off during flights.

According to a flight attendant:

once the door of the aircraft is closed and anytime the aircraft is below 10,000, any device that has an on/off switch and power source, must be turned off. This includes, but is not limited to, MP3 players, noise canceling headphones, laptop computers, palm pilots, etc. This would include your cell phone. Once above 10,000 feet, you will be advised when the use of APPROVED electronic devices can be used. Usually, there is a list of approved portable electronic devices in the airline's in-flight magazine. Your cell phone is NOT among those devices listed.

On approach, once the aircraft descends below 10,000 feet again, ALL electronic devices must once again be POWERED OFF, and remain OFF for the rest of the flight...including taxi. Your cellphone however, may be used once the aircraft has landed and is taxiing to it's arrival gate.

Experts would say:

Cellphones should be turn off because it continously sends out live signals during its search for a network. Being that high up in the sky, you probably wont get a connection, so your cell will keep searching for a signal. That might interfere with the plane's equipment (the risk is too big to take) Also, when its searching for a signal, it uses battery, so its a waste of battery too. Its better if you just turned it off.

Flight attendants follows orders from the superiors and from the company they are working to. Bu what are the reasons they prohibit the use of cellphones when the the airplane take off?

Federal Aviation Administration regulations prohibit any use of mobile phones except when the aircraft is on the ground.

airlines can be fined up to $25,000 if they permit mobile phone usage during a flight, and individuals also can face fines.

Investigators are considering mobile phone use as a possible cause for a plane crash and recent emergency landing in Europe and in other parts of the world.

Airlines don't permit the use of most wireless devices during flight because of concerns over interference with airplane controls from PEDs (Personal Electronic Devices) -- even though the airline industry has only come up with anecdotal evidence to support their fears.

According to the journal entitled, Proceedings of Aircraft Symposium, that avionics circuits were very weak to the interference (from PEDs) and only the shield of the cables and cases could protect from incidents.

There are many incidents happening in many commercial airlines that passengers resist to the instructions given by the flight attendants regarding their mobile phones, and these acts contributes a greater risk to the aircraft and to the passengers.

Cellphones can be used now in many ways, it can be used to trigger a bomb and among others that can cause disaster. So when ever we see someone misbehaving to the airline personnel regarding the switching off his mobile phone, better do something or else all of you will join the plane as it hits the ground and explode.

^{excerpts from cellphonedigest.net}

UK regulator Ofcom has given approval for use of cell phones on airplanes flying in European airspace and has released plans that will allow airlines to offer mobile services on UK-registered aircrafts.

The cost of making a cell phone call from an air plane will be higher than making one from the ground. Cell phones can be used on air planes that have reached at least 3,000 meters. However, airlines looking to offer this service must still satisfy other regulators about how the hardware will be used.

The decision to offer in flight cell phone services now falls to individual airlines which must over-come other regulatory hurdles before the technology is considered to be fully approved.

The European Aviation Safety Agency would have to approve all hardware that would be installed in an aircraft to ensure that it did not interfere with other flight systems. Additionally, airlines would have to develop operating procedures to ensure that the cabin-crew is trained in the proper use of the systems.

This is how the system would work: The plan is to install small mobile phone base stations, called pico cells, in aircraft that will be switched on after take-off. The base station generates a bubble of coverage in and around the aircraft. Calls made via the pico cell will be routed to terrestrial networks via satellite link. Across Europe radio spectrum has been set aside for the technology. The services could stop working once aircraft leave European airspace.