Can an iPad down a plane?

Posted by Unknown Saturday, November 10, 2012

"Please, please keep your phones, computers, and other electronic devices off during takeoff and landing." It's a phrase that everyone who has been on an airplane heard almost as much as when maneuvering flight attendants to show what to do in a plane crash. Now, with the inclusion of new technologies like the iPad, the message may be lengthened.

According to an article in the BBC news page, this warning is because electromagnetic waves of such devices can interfere with the controls of aircraft and cause a crash. However, the path between the myth and reality of this statement is unclear. Therefore, the Aviation Authority of the United States (FAA, by the acronym) aims to review the arguments supporting the measure. If not strong enough, could be changed or even deleted.

As reported a few years ago a famous blogger scientific, Brian Dunning, the real reason has nothing to do with the FAA, but rather comes from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC stands for). According to Dunning, when you're seven or eight miles alturaen air, mobile or other electronic device need not cause any problems. "As we know after 11-S, mobile phones are working properly from the air, yet the FCC has passed a law outlawing use a phone in a commercial aircraft is not touching earth", stipulates in article.

Dunning goes further and asks a question: "If these devices were to have the potential of endangering an aircraft and take it down, then it should be equally allowed to carry on board, such as dynamite." So, give advice to readers: "When you hear something that sounds crazy, be skeptical."

The journalist Nick Bilton of "The New York Times' complaint that there is strong evidence that these technologies could impair the safety. In fact, not yet been no plane crash caused by power on an unsuspecting passenger. As reported in the BBC, Bilton has come to reveal that". Colleagues who have traveled with the president of the United States in the presidential plane Air Force One, he commented that the Secret Service would never ask anyone to turn off their devices before takeoff.



Thus, the debate has again put on the table after the company announced that American Airlines would allow cabin crew to use tablets throughout the flight.

According to a scientific expert in communication systems, the iPad emits waves that can be picked up by the airplane equipment, which are very sensitive. The BBC article states that when the scientist activated airplane mode, the tablet stopped issuing these frequencies, so according to this, the probability that a device in airplane mode causes an accident is almost nil. However, the expert is not completely disassociated from current legislation and although he does not believe that there is danger, says that when a plane takes off and lands, are the most critical in terms of safety, so "people should listen instead of ignoring warnings".

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