In-flight Cell Phone Usage
Category: Tech...
Posted Wednesday, July 02, 2003 at 05:57 PM [GMT-6]

Today's Wall Street Journal carries a story about a study to determine once and for all if there's any real danger associated with passengers using cell phones and other wireless PEDs while in the midst of commercial flights.

The FAA has commissioned RTCA, Inc. (a private non-profit organization that provides "consensus-based recommendations regarding communications, navigation, surveillance, and air traffic management (CNS/ATM) system issues") to study not only cell phones, but also other electronic devices that have wireless networking capabilities via Bluetooth™ IEEE 802.11a and IEEE 802.11b.

Despite occasional anecdotal evidence to the contrary, there doesn't seem to be any hard data indicating that the use of such devices has ever interfered with commercial flight operations. When the results of the study are finalized within a couple of years, many experts seem to think that the ban on in-flight usage will be lifted.

This will be, of course, just one more reason to either (1) invest in some high-powered noise-canceling headphones, or (2) avoid commercial flights altogether (particularly the weekday redeye from Midland to Houston).