iPhone and SAA

[Rouxenator]

Amazing what amuses some people

So the day the plane crash and you die with many others, you'll stop calling it BS?

I personally don't buy that mobile phones will interfere with avionics (there's only been one, poorly documented, case I can recall), it still is the law to switch any transmitters off.

Why not just do it? What perverse kick do you get from not doing it?

Why would it happen one day if it has not happend so far ? I would not call myself a frequent flyer but I do travel to joburg and back at least 4 times a year. I have done this on numerous planes from MD-80 to the newer 737s. No problems at all.

The perverse kick I get ? Knowing that they are talking k4k and I am proof of it.

And I would just rather switch it off than g down in a ball of fire

Oh you really think that is going to happen on a straight sub 2h flight from joburg to cape town because of a phone ? This is not national geographic channel pal, get real. Besides, none of those air crash investigation programs has ever blamed a phone as the cause.

Doesn't qualify you for membership to the mile high club. Stop trying.

Funny but you can not get into the club if you are already a member. I proposed shortly after and we are happily married.

 

[simons]

If People want to be so stupid, just tell them your iPhone is a "fancy black paper weight", two can play the stupid game!!

 

[phiber]

Wow i flew SAA in January, had an iphone, and stuck it into flight mode, no problem. I wonder what they will say if u pull out the sim card !

 

[WHATEVER]

Personally, I would stick the device into flight mode and just keep it out of the prying eyes of the cabin crew.

That is what I do ...

 

[Vegeta]

Used my HTC(in flight mode) & iTouch on a few flights now, never asked if i could, i just went ahead. No one bothered me

 

[The_Unbeliever]

My cell was on to the flight to Maputo.

Also, nothing about switching off cellphones and so on...

 

[Waaib]

CAA regulates british airways flights in SA, no? Can you use flight mode on a BA flight in SA?

CAA in South Africa regulates ComAir which operates kulua and BA in South Africa. BA in SA is a franchise. So on local BA flights it's CAA rules (i.e no flight mode) but on international BA flights it's EU rules and flight mode is allowed.

If a plane goes down how are they going to prove it was the passenger in seat 16A who was playing flight sim on his iPhone and crashed the plane. By the time a plane goes down a whole different set of insurances and rules kick in. Airlines are covered for crashes and have a few lawyers around to take care of legal claims re negligence etc I reckon.

I reckon most of the aircrew are just jealous and being spiteful that you have a cooler toy than them.

 

[ocirion]

Lets not forget we are also the only first, second or third world country that requires us to remove our laptops from their carry cases when we go through the metal detectors before boarding.

This is so they can scan the laptops better.

If their scanners cannot manage to scan through a thin piece of nylon/leather, how do they scan through the laptop itself ? or anything else of more substance.

 

[vodacom3g]

Why would it happen one day if it has not happend so far ? I would not call myself a frequent flyer but I do travel to joburg and back at least 4 times a year. I have done this on numerous planes from MD-80 to the newer 737s. No problems at all.

The perverse kick I get ? Knowing that they are talking k4k and I am proof of it.

Oh you really think that is going to happen on a straight sub 2h flight from joburg to cape town because of a phone ? This is not national geographic channel pal, get real. Besides, none of those air crash investigation programs has ever blamed a phone as the cause.


Funny but you can not get into the club if you are already a member. I proposed shortly after and we are happily married.

To be brutally honest you're just being incredibly immature. There's a current law that states that RF transmitters should be off on planes in flight and you intentionally break this law. Why?

There's absolutely no good reason for you to keep it on, it's not like you can make a call or connect to a hotspot at 30 000 feet, can you?

But for some reason you get off on the idea that you can do this.

Sending yourself a SMS via 4me so your phone can beep in the overhead locker is just plain sad. And the fact that you do this for enjoyment, is even more sad.

As is your claim that RF cannot affect avionics as it's not done so up to now. Please provide your credentials in this field.

 

[pjviviers]

Well, as ridiculous as it might sound, there might be some merit to it. Besides, its a worldwide norm, and as I am sure that any new aircraft will be using approved frequencies for its internal communication and control systems, the same may not be true for older planes. This was true with old hospital equipment and pacemakers. Also, it cannot be expected that everyone know what "flight mode" is, and how to make sure it is selected. Should a airline train each crew member to know each device, and check if each phone is physically or that all communication is disabled? So they expect us to behave like adults. Unfortunately it is true that our watches, organizers and entertainment is now centralized into our personal communication device, aka or cell phones. So at the end of the day, to avoid a fight, it’s good to just find common ground. That means treating someone as if he/she was still in school. And that’s just true to most things in life.. It should be noted that with a cell network, calls at the speed of more than about 250 km/h is impossible, as due to propagation delays, handoffs between towers is impossible. A handoff is the process of one tower handing communication to another, when your handset move between two areas...So no, do not expect a call whether your cell is on or off. Fact is, communication is not just limited to cellular phones. Playstation portables and some new IPods in fact do have wifi modules. Many laptops have wifi and Bluetooth modules. So who is checking all of these? Sometimes we should just be adults...

 

[vodacom3g]

Lets not forget we are also the only first, second or third world country that requires us to remove our laptops from their carry cases when we go through the metal detectors before boarding.

This is so they can scan the laptops better.

If their scanners cannot manage to scan through a thin piece of nylon/leather, how do they scan through the laptop itself ? or anything else of more substance.

Every airport in Europe and the US I traveled through in the last year or two insisted my laptop be removed from it's bag. Some airports (Frankfurt and JFK) even requested that I turned it on.

 

[ike]

Why would it happen one day if it has not happend so far ? I would not call myself a frequent flyer but I do travel to joburg and back at least 4 times a year. I have done this on numerous planes from MD-80 to the newer 737s. No problems at all.

The perverse kick I get ? Knowing that they are talking k4k and I am proof of it.

Oh you really think that is going to happen on a straight sub 2h flight from joburg to cape town because of a phone ? This is not national geographic channel pal, get real. Besides, none of those air crash investigation programs has ever blamed a phone as the cause.


Funny but you can not get into the club if you are already a member. I proposed shortly after and we are happily married.

R u for REAL? the lawlessness in this country is out of control, and im sure every lawbreaker uses some sort of logic not too far removed from this. why cant every1 just obey the rules? like u said, its only 2 hours, so y cant u just behave and play with ur 3 toys when u get out?

 

[FreeMan]

I flew to Germany/Sweden on SAA last weekend. I got the same stupid "you are not allowed to use phones in flight mode" crap. I spend the whole flight watching movies and listening to my iPhone IN FLIGHT MODE. And guess what...we did not crash!!! WOW! Amazing isn't it.

 

[Rouxenator]

To be brutally honest you're just being incredibly immature. There's a current law that states that RF transmitters should be off on planes in flight and you intentionally break this law. Why?

Same reason I drive 200km/h+ on an open strech of road when it does not pose a risk to anyone

Sending yourself a SMS via 4me so your phone can beep in the overhead locker is just plain sad. And the fact that you do this for enjoyment, is even more sad.

The sadest is that you are envious for not thinking of it first !

As is your claim that RF cannot affect avionics as it's not done so up to now. Please provide your credentials in this field.

I am living proof of it.

Listen, wodakomfreegee, around here a lot of people absolutely hate my guts and you know what, I'm kewl with that . The stance you take in your post is pretty much the same stance they take when they tell people to switch their phones off but they my use their RF-device-laden laptops. In short, it equals to pretty good laughing stock.

 

[Rouxenator]

R u for REAL? the lawlessness in this country is out of control, and im sure every lawbreaker uses some sort of logic not too far removed from this. why cant every1 just obey the rules? like u said, its only 2 hours, so y cant u just behave and play with ur 3 toys when u get out?

Laws are basic guidelines. Sure, I do not think it wise to kill someone, or to drive 120 in a 60 zone. But somewhere along the line you are gonna have to stop looking at things in sheep-mode and to apply some logic.

Cell phones does nothing to airplanes. Not even old MD-80s. In fact, most MacDonnell Deathtrap-80s just crash because they are poorly maintained like most airplanes in South Africa. Your phone(s) is not having any effect on this already big problem.

I flew to Germany/Sweden on SAA last weekend. I got the same stupid "you are not allowed to use phones in flight mode" crap. I spend the whole flight watching movies and listening to my iPhone IN FLIGHT MODE. And guess what...we did not crash!!! WOW! Amazing isn't it.

For once I applaud you

 

[Drunkard #1]

I'm with rouxenator here. I never bother to turn off my phone, it's not worth the effort. And any smartass that says it will crash the plane, please provide a documented case, or shut up. Every single flight since mobile phones were invented probably had at least a few left on, and none have ever been blamed for a crash, its called empirical evidence and at the moment its irrefutable. As for the lame law - if government wants us to respect the law then the law should make sense.

 

[mancombseepgood]

The problem is that most users don't know what flight mode actually is, or how to switch it on, so it's safer to tell all to switch off altogether. The alternative is to have the flight attendant inspect everyone's phones and that will take too long. Simple.

 

[ajax]

I cannot say that I have ever experienced problems with me having my cellphone on during a flight (Kulula, BA, SAA). I just take it out, look at it and see there is no reception, change stuff on my calender etc, end then nothing happens. Maybe it's because I always sit next to the window so the waiters don't see me.

Even with no reception the phone occasionally searches for networks (provided it is not in flight mode of course). To search for networks, it must generate a small signal to be able to receive a signal. While this signal is extremely low, it will transmit at maximum power (2W) if it picks up any GSM signal. If all 200 passengers leave their phones on, chances are they may all transmit simultaneously while the aircraft is on descent when they find the first available signal.

I would feel uncomfortable knowing there are 200x 2W transmitters ready to pump signal while we're getting ready to land.

 

[ajax]

The problem is that most users don't know what flight mode actually is, or how to switch it on, so it's safer to tell all to switch off altogether. The alternative is to have the flight attendant inspect everyone's phones and that will take too long. Simple.

Valid point, some may think because there's no reception the phone must be in flight mode.

 

[kaspaas]

I personally don't buy that mobile phones will interfere with avionics (there's only been one, poorly documented, case I can recall), it still is the law to switch any transmitters off.

A 737 pilot told me a few years ago that cellphones DO CAUSE problems... not with the avionics, but with plain radio transmission. A cellphone near the cockpit would create interference with the headphones, similar to one near speakers at home when there was communication between the cellphone and the nearest GSM tower.

When a plane gets closer to earth for landing, the pilots require proper and clear radio channels with the control tower, but it is also the time when GSM communications are initiated, and the interference on the headphones caused a lot of "please say again" type of responses between the pilots and the control tower.

Maybe this problem has been solved in the mean time, but it was, according to that pilot, a major nuisance at a critical phase of flight.