Cellphones on a Plane — More Dangerous Than Snakes

Frequent travelers know that while arriving at your destination might be the beginning of a great adventure, the getting there part can be, well, a drag (no aeronautical pun intended). Sure, there is a small TV screen wedged into the back of chair facing you that you can fiddle with, but the novelty wears off quickly. The earphones that are dished out—even if they come without a fee—lead you to prerecorded radio and television, which can be quite repetitive on a longer flight. Oh, wait, that’s right! You brought your own entertainment. Think again.

You have your iPad, smartphone, and Kindle packed in your carry-on luggage—and they are just calling out to you. There is one minor problem: in-flight crews ask you to shut down every gadget and gismo you have in your possession for the takeoff and landing of the aircraft. But really, is all this fuss necessary?

Well, the short answer is yes. But not for the reasons you may think.

“Mr. Baldwin, is that an iPhone in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?”

You are a law-abiding citizen, of course—most of the time, okay. The thing is, when it comes to electronic devices on an airplane, not even celebrity status will buy you a pass these days. Last December, actor Alec Baldwin was removed from an American Airlines flight for refusing to put away his iPhone. Despite the fact that he was playing the very charming Words With Friends, the crew was not buying it. Off the plane went the thespian.

But what’s all the fuss about? Scientific data stands in favor of Mr. Baldwin’s minor rebellion. There is no empirical evidence that using your devices on board an aircraft will interfere with anything that is located on the craft—not an espresso machine, not a dial on the instrument panel, nada. There is even an episode of MythBusters where this myth was evidentially busted. If you are confused by this, then you’re not the only one because the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is too.

When the issue originally cropped up back in the 80s when cellphones looked more like military-issued warlike-talkies, the FAA passed the buck to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The unofficial reply by an FCC spokesperson was, “Does it looks like we have wings?” The FCC threw it back at the FAA and maintained that it really was not in their scope of responsibilities. Two decades later, the agencies are still refusing to invest in the research. Although, perhaps watching episode 49 of MythBusters might settle it once and for all.

All joking aside, it seems someone needs to step into action. But if the government won’t step in, who will? A lot would be riding on the results of such an investigation, no doubt. No one wants to put the lives at passengers at risk. And if you ask yourself why the attention is put on the use of devices during takeoff and landing, it is because this is where most accidents occur and where the reliability of instruments is most crucial. So no, it is not an arbitrary demand on the part of the airline. But as the proliferation of electronic devices and our dependence on them increases, it seems clear that a definitive answer is needed either way. If not, tell that to the airline pilots who are now using their iPads to monitor vital flight information. (Yes, they do that, too.)