Re requests for evidence of harm, this controversial Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) article is frequently linked:
Unsafe At Any Airspeed? Cellphones and other electronics are more of a risk than you think
Quote:
Originally Posted by Penforhire
Because if the risk was real can you imagine how trivial it would be for terrorists to create EM noise in the 'sensitive' spectrum with modified hand-held devices?
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Aircraft instruments giving inconsistent readings can be one cause of a crash, but, by itself, an instrument problem is not going to destroy the aircraft. If the kind of low risk we are talking about does, in fact, exist, the terrorist would still have to target millions of flights to create one crash -- not trivial at all.
Quote:
Originally Posted by polly
It's frustrating that I have to bring something to fill that hour when I'm holding a device that sends a signal for less than half an inch and couldn't possibly cause any interference.
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I can see the frustration when your eReader does not communicate by radio, or the radio is switched off. But, just glacing at your device, there is no way for aircrew to know that. I have a Kindle with 3G. As far as I am concerned, the killer app for Kindle models with cell phone network connectivity is the New York Times Latest News blog. This frequently communicates by radio unless I turn off wireless.
One could say that telling people to stop eReading is pointless because a stowed Kindle may still be communicating by radio. Without question, some Kindle owners accidentally leave the wireless on when putting their device away. However, I also think that the current regulations reduce the amount of radio traffic in the cabin.
A lot of things have to gone wrong at once to bring down an airliner. Suppose, shortly after the electronic device rules were rescinded, there was a crash in which one of the contributing factors was inconsistent instrument readings. There would be widespread speculation that passenger-held devices had something to do with it, and much more draconian rules than we now have could result. So I would go very slow in easing up on current rules.