Subject: [NEXTEL-1] FAA Group to Study Cell Phone Use on Board Commercial Airlines

From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 13:23:42 -0400

FAA Group to Study Cell Phone Use on Board Commercial Airlines The Radio Technical
Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA), a non-profit advisory panel to the FAA, will be
conducting a study over the next three years that could result in the approval of
cell phone use on board commercial airlines. The group, comprised of
representatives from airlines, airplane makers and the electronics industry, is
studying the effects that portable electronic devices, such as modem-equipped
laptops, handheld computers and wireless messaging devices, have on aircraft
equipment. If the results of the study indicate that transmissions from these
devices don’t threaten safety, the famous flight attendant cliché of “please turn
off all portable electronic devices while the main cabin door is closed” may be a
thing of the past.

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Cell-Phone Calls on Jets May Be OK'd by 2006
By Dan Reed
July 15, 2003

http://www.wirelessnewsfactor.com/perl/story/21907.html

Rapid changes in technology might mean that using cell phones during flight could
be safe now. "It's been seven years since we last looked at this issue," FAA
spokesman Les Dorr says. "That's like dog years, given the advances in
technology."
Cell-phone use aboard commercial planes in flight could be approved in about three
years if a new study authorized by the Federal Aviation Administration shows that
their transmissions don't threaten safety.

The study by the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics, a non-profit advisory
panel to the FAA, should be completed by October 2005. The RTCA panel includes
representatives from airlines, airplane makers and the electronics industry. The
FAA typically takes six months to a year to act on RTCA recommendations. The study
also will look into what effects other portable communication devices, such as
modem-equipped laptops and handheld computers and wireless messaging devices, have
on aircraft equipment.

In the meantime, airlines are moving to expand the time that passengers can use
cell phones aboard planes on the ground. Both American and Continental this month
began allowing passengers to use cell phones longer before taking off, and to turn
them back on very shortly after landing. Cell-phone use aboard aircraft is banned
by a Federal Communications Commission rule that the FAA supports. FAA rules also
prohibit use of most personal electronic devices. Items such as tape players, CD
and DVD players, laptops, handheld games and PDAs can be used during flight but
not during takeoff or landing.

There have been a handful of cases in which pilots have suspected that personal
electronic devices were interfering with their instruments, but the effect has not
been proven.

FAA spokesman Les Dorr says rapid changes in technology might mean that such
devices are safe now, or could be made safe to use. "It's been seven years since
we last looked at this issue," Dorr says. "That's like dog years, given the
advances in technology." Officials at the Air Transport Association, the
industry's lobby, support cell-phone use in flight, but only if it can be shown
that energy emitted by phones won't compromise safety. Demand for in-flight use of
cell phones is presumed to be strong. But use of seatback phones available on most
planes has plummeted.

American last year turned its seatback phones off and removed the transmission
equipment -- but not the phone handsets -- figuring the fuel savings from the
reduced weight were greater than its share of the seatback phone revenue.
Currently, passengers can use their cell phones onboard planes only when the cabin
door is open, or when allowed while rolling toward the gate. However, it is not
unusual to spot travelers sneaking a cell call in flight.

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