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Bluetooth on an Airplane?
bblazer asks: "Since I travel quite a lot, I am very familiar with the warnings about cell phone use on an airplane (could be bunk, but I still respect it and those around me). But what about using Bluetooth? I just got off an Alaska Airlines flight where the flight attendant said that we were not permitted to use any device that sends or receives a radio signal. I often use the bluetooth features of my PowerBook and Treo while onboard a plane (you can have the Treo on without having the cell phone on), or I set up a mini-network with others I may be traveling with. Could Bluetooth cause any problems, or is this something I need not worry about?"
Average member of Slashdot crowd isn't fully proficient in commenting flight safety. Your local air line representative is. So why don't you pick up your phone and make a call and have your question answered in no less than 30 seconds by a professional?
There is no FAA restriction on the use of any electronics in flight. It is totally up to the pilot/flight crew. A pilot flying a private 747 owned by a sports team for example can freely allow use of any electronics at any time.
There are specific restrictions imposed by the FCC depending on the band in use, such as cell phones, and that is on it's way out.
Unless the FCC has applied restrictions to the band - you can freely use whatever you want subject to the requirements of the flight crew.
Now, that's not to say any pilot is going to approve - in the world of lawyers, it's far easier to say no than to take any risk, even if it's practically nonexistent. Think about it - the first accident that occurs after a pilot allows it - it's going to get blamed, even it it has nothing to do with the real reason for the event.
*cough* bullshit *cough*
First, the reason cell phones are banned was they cell sites couldn't handle the handoffs of cell phones in air. The wireless communications companies asked the airlines to stop in flight calls, and offered and created companies just for in fight service.
2nd. Fly by wire isn't, fly by RF, there are actual wires, and these wires wont pick up RF from a device as you say. If you're simple phone could put it out of service, any plane flying over a guys house with a HAM radio would crash it. Planes don't crash from RF like that.
And you say you worked for the industry, well guess what, so do I.
BTW, did you want a cookie for reporting the big bad man to the air stewardess (HA, Fuck Political Correctness)...
So, exactly how many planes have crashed due to cellphone or WiFi usage?
Planes don't crash when they fly in areas that have radio towers, they don't crash when flying under satellites, they don't crash when people "accidentally" leave their cellphone one. But, of course, in the lab, when you turn on a cellphone right next to a radio receiver, you get little blips, oscillations, or otherwise see some minor effects. Yet it's absolutely clear that these effects aren't important in the real world. Is it because the radio sources are located tens of meters from the equipment? Is it because the effects are minimal (the device doesn't need the tolerances that the variations on your scope shows)? Is it because you cherry pick your results (well, if the system is hit by lightning and there are four cellphones equadistantly distributed around the plane at 25m, and they ring in order, the plane will think its headed backwards for 300ms)?
When people believe a theory that contradicts reality, we call it superstition.
You can quote your own ancedotal evidence
And you quote yours. Who wins in this discussion? How about the person whose claims actually match reality?
Now, if you have examples of planes being downed by a cellphone, I'm all ears. Let's hear some facts that turn your superstition into reality, if you're so convinced.