\t<\/p>\n
I, like many of you I’m sure, had the
\nmisfortune of having to go to the airport over the holidays. While I
\nlove my family and it’s always great to see them, traveling is such a
\nhassle and of all the methods of transportation I’ve taken, flying
\nhas to be the more cumbersome. First you have to con someone into
\ntaking you to the airport and someone to pick you up if you want to
\navoid the cost of parking. Next you have a choice of paying to check
\na bag if you want to bring a razor or full size bottle of shampoo or
\ncarrying on a bag and buy stuff at the other end. Then, you go
\nthrough security where you have to take out all liquids and your
\nlaptop, take off your shoes, belts, jackets, hats, etc. and put all
\nof this, along with any bag, through the X-ray machine. Then you get
\nto walk through those lovely new scanners and may or may not face a
\npat down.\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
After passing that point you have to
\nscramble to collect your things and as quickly as possible shove them
\nback in your bags so you don’t annoy the person behind you. Once in
\nthe terminal you wait to board. Someone gets on an intercom and makes
\nan announcement that they are ready to board your plane which is
\nusually impossible to hear. Then the boarding process begins and I’m
\nsorry, it makes no sense. While I get that people pay extra to get on
\nfirst, just slows down the whole process. They should board from the
\nback of the plane. Period. It would avoid so many problems. But I
\ndigress. After waiting for all of those people to get on, you get
\ncalled by zone. Once you get called and you are trying to get on the
\nplan the most annoying part of the process begins. Because many
\nairlines now require you to pay for checked bags, people carry on
\ntheir luggage and no one tells these people that their bags are too
\nbig. They try to jam their bags in the overhead compartments or under
\nthe seat and when they don’t fit, they get upset and everyone else
\nhas to wait for the bag to be checked.\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
Once you get through all of that, the
\nplane takes off and you have to deal with your neighbor elbowing you
\nor snoring through the whole trip. Or maybe there’s a screaming
\nbaby\/child on board to entertain you. Then you land and have to wait
\nfor everyone to get their stowed bags.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
If you are lucky and you have a direct
\nflight then it’s over. If not you have to repeat the latter half of
\nthis rant.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
All of that being said, flying is
\nalmost always the most efficient way to travel. Although it can be
\npricey, you will more times than now, save hours of your time. Not to
\nmention it’s the safest way to travel. There is 1 accident for every
\n1.2 million flights; this includes ANY type of accidents in ANY type
\nof aircraft. There’s about a 1 in 10 million chance of a commercial
\nplane crash and even if a plane crashes it’s a misconception that you
\nare doomed; you have about an 80% chance of surviving. The chance of
\ndying in a plane crash is about 1 in 9.2 million. It’s much more
\nlikely to die on the way to the airport. It’s even more likely that
\nyou’ll win the lottery.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
Of course this doesn’t stop people from
\nbeing afraid. There are a few reasons for this. One is that when a
\nplane crashes it usually is catastrophic and sensationalized in the
\nmedia. When something happens so rarely, it always newsworthy.
\nAnother reason is that people feel out of control when they are
\nflying. Not only are they not piloting the plane, they can’t even see
\nwhat’s going on in the cock-pit. Finally… people are irrational.
\nFacts don’t always keep emotions at bay. And I include myself in that
\nstatement. Quite often I am nervous about flying and have to repeat
\nthese facts in my head over and over again until I snap back to
\nreality.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
But all of that is only indirectly
\nrelated to the question I am trying to answer. It was inspired by the
\nguy next to me on the plane (the least annoying of the four people I
\nwas forced to sit next to). As a plane takes off and lands, you have
\nto turn off all electronic devices. Since he was involved with a game
\nof Angry Birds, he was huffing and puffing about having to comply.
\nWhich got me to thinking… is this is actually necessary?<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
Well, let’s start with the position of
\nthe FAA. Portable electronic device (PEDs) are now carried by almost
\neveryone. There are still many unknowns about the radio signals that
\ncell phones and other PEDs give off. There is a chance that they
\ncould interfere with the flight instruments. These instruments use a
\npitot-static system to determine things like airspeed, Mach number,
\naltitude and altitude trend. Such systems are a composition of
\nsensors that detect air pressure (or pitot pressure) and static
\npressure taking into account temperature, density, pressure and
\nviscosity of fluids. There electrical, magnetic and vacuum components
\nto such instruments.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
This fear may not be that far fetched.
\nA compute monitor, for example can be effected by electromagnetic
\nfields which a cell phone emits. So if you ever hear a strange
\nmagnetic sound right before the phone rings and until you pick up the
\nphone, you now know the reason. You may also notice this with
\nspeakers, radios, etc. This is usually only way a phone is near these
\ndevices. If your phone is on the other side of the room you have no
\nproblem. The same thing, in theory, could happen with flight
\ninstruments in an airplane.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
So I guess one could ask why not just
\nsay that the pilot isn’t allowed to have a cell phone? There are some
\narguments that it is the collective use of phones and other PEDs that
\nemit electromagnetic fields that would be a problem. Others claim
\nthere is no actual reason for this especially with modern cell
\nphones. But I think the overall message I found from experts is that
\nthe jury is still out on this one and it’s better to be safe than
\nsorry. Taking off and landing are the most critical parts of a flight
\nso it’s important that the plane and ground control have
\nuninterrupted communications. Also during these critical times, the
\ncaptain will want to have the attention of the passengers. It’s hard
\nto hear announcements when you have headphones on or are engaged in
\nother activities.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
As technology advances, this rule will
\nmost likely be a thing of the past. In fact, some flights even have a
\nWiFi system that people can use for a fee. These systems have to
\nundergo a great deal of testing to ensure that it is safe to have on
\nboard.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
My final thought? I hope that sometime
\nsoon they will realize that an e-reader, mp3 player, smart phone or
\nlaptop with the wireless signal disabled is safe to use and you don’t
\nhave to put it away to take off or land. The issue there is of course
\ntrusting people to turn off the wireless signal…\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
I must admit though that I hope cell
\nphone use, for making calls that is, continues to be prohibited. Does
\nanyone want to sit on a three hour flight having to listen to the
\nperson next to them talk loudly to their friend who they are
\ntraveling to see about getting their nails done? Or listen to one
\nside of a business deal? I don’t think so…<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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