I am absolutely, totally, drink-five-shots-of-vodka-and-say-my-prayers, terrified of flying. It’s not the flight itself I mind, really, only those few minutes of taking off when the aircraft is shuddering and bucking all around me. For the most part, I can settle into watching the in-flight movie, happily dosed with Valium, and forget that I am hurtling through the skies at unnatural speeds and altitudes. But during takeoff, there’s no sugar-coating, no way to hide the fact that you’re riding in a huge hunk of metal that’s breaking through cloud barriers and defying all the laws of gravity.
Since there’s no way for me to avoid flying, really, the next best thing has been for me to calm my nerves by finding out as much as I can about the real odds of something terrible happening during takeoff. For instance, what would really happen if, say, one of my fellow passengers left his or her iPod on, even though the flight attendant clearly instructed us to turn off all handheld devices? And how likely is it that a bird will get sucked into one of the engines?
1. Cell Phones: Shut Up and Takeoff
We all know that we’re supposed to turn our cell phones off for the entire flight, not just during takeoff. This is because cell phones transmit signals that can interfere with both cellular signals in the plane and on the ground. Because the devices have such a far-reaching effect, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has joined the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in reinforcing this cardinal rule of flight.
That said, we don’t like to be without our cell phones for very long, and those who would prefer to wile away their seven-hour flight by conducting business or catching up on the “he said WHAT?!” are pushing to change this rule. Thanks to new technology from ASI Entertainment, Inc.’s wholly owned subsidiary ASiQ Ltd., the Safecell shielding system claims to make cell phones safe on flights by turning off their transmitters. That means that you wouldn’t be able to make in-flight calls, but you would be able to send SMS messages, read emails, and play games. There are also some phones, like the Nokia P800, that feature a “flight-safe mode.” (Note: these are still not allowed to be turned on at any point during a flight.)
Even with some kind of shield to avoid cellular transmissions in-flight, however, cell phones still pose a danger to airplane safety. In response to passenger demands that the ban on cell phone use during flights be lifted, the Flight Attendants-CWA has sponsored a bill this past May to reinforce the ban. The AFA-CWA claims that cell phone use would compromise flight crews’ ability to direct and maintain order within the aircraft, especially in the case of an emergency. The House has approved the bill, and it goes to the Senate this summer.
