I wrote yesterday about the wonders of technology particularly in the hands of our computer-savvy children. Since then I’ve read a report that tends to confirm what many of us have long suspected, and that is that some technology can be positively dangerous particularly when used on aircraft.
It seems that passengers are forgetting to switch off their mobile phones, laptops, e-readers and other electronic gadgets in such numbers that they may present dangers to the aircraft’s cockpit equipment, and that this is thought to have been factors in several aircraft crashes. Most of these portable devices transit a signal and all emit electromagnetic waves which, so say some experts, could interfere with a plane’s electronics, particularly those on older aircraft which may not be protected against the latest devices.
In one 2003 case in New Zealand, the pilot phoned home, left his mobile switched on and this possibly led to the plane’s navigation equipment giving a false reading which led to the plane flying into the ground short of the runway, killing eight people. In 2007, one Boeing 737 pilot found his navigation equipment failed after takeoff but the problem disappeared when a flight attendant told a passenger to switch off a hand-held GPS device.
Various airlines have carried out tests of the effect mobile gadgets have on aircraft navigation and other cockpit equipment and, because the results have been inconclusive, the jury is still out on the subject. However, the US Federal Aviation Administration forbid the use of gadgets below 10,000 because pilots have less time at lower altitudes to deal with any problem that may arise; and this is a practice followed by other countries.
I have certainly used a laptop in the days when I used to fly and most airlines allow this, though I recall that all forbid the use of mobile phones. Since those days, there have been a raft of new gadgets introduced in the market and, indeed, my new Kindle which I bought only last week is certainly one gadget I’d want to use on board if I were ever to fly again.
Against all this must, of course, weigh the need for safety but whether folk are prepared to give up using their gadgets on planes is quite another thing.
.
It seems that passengers are forgetting to switch off their mobile phones, laptops, e-readers and other electronic gadgets in such numbers that they may present dangers to the aircraft’s cockpit equipment, and that this is thought to have been factors in several aircraft crashes. Most of these portable devices transit a signal and all emit electromagnetic waves which, so say some experts, could interfere with a plane’s electronics, particularly those on older aircraft which may not be protected against the latest devices.
In one 2003 case in New Zealand, the pilot phoned home, left his mobile switched on and this possibly led to the plane’s navigation equipment giving a false reading which led to the plane flying into the ground short of the runway, killing eight people. In 2007, one Boeing 737 pilot found his navigation equipment failed after takeoff but the problem disappeared when a flight attendant told a passenger to switch off a hand-held GPS device.
Various airlines have carried out tests of the effect mobile gadgets have on aircraft navigation and other cockpit equipment and, because the results have been inconclusive, the jury is still out on the subject. However, the US Federal Aviation Administration forbid the use of gadgets below 10,000 because pilots have less time at lower altitudes to deal with any problem that may arise; and this is a practice followed by other countries.
I have certainly used a laptop in the days when I used to fly and most airlines allow this, though I recall that all forbid the use of mobile phones. Since those days, there have been a raft of new gadgets introduced in the market and, indeed, my new Kindle which I bought only last week is certainly one gadget I’d want to use on board if I were ever to fly again.
Against all this must, of course, weigh the need for safety but whether folk are prepared to give up using their gadgets on planes is quite another thing.
.
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