It’s the one thing we all wonder while flying: do electronic devices really pose a threat to the safety of the flight? Could playing Angry Birds on your iPhone on the plane really cause the plane to crash?
Despite being able to offer WiFi on flights, the Federal Aviation Administration does now allow the use of electronic devices during takeoff and landing.
So the question remains: what happens when one does keep their electronic devices on during takeoff?
Well, the answer is nothing, as I’m sure you’re either the person who has done it, or, at the very least, the person who has seen it happen.
Let’s be realistic, if there was an actual threat, then the flight attendants would confiscate every iPhone on the plane before the flight ever took. Hell, you can’t even take shampoo or toothpaste onto an airplane, what makes you think that there’s any sort of threat if the FAA doesn’t take away electronic devices?
Still, the FAA and some paranoid pilots believe the electronic devices could interfere with the electronic systems of the plane and bring it down.
The New York Times‘ Nick Bilton points out that there’s just no scientific proof that anything of that kind of terrible nature could ever happen.
Bilton cites two studies to disprove the FAA and the spooked pilots, one done by EMT Labs in California, which stated there is “no difference in radio output between two iPads and 200,” meaning that the electromagnetic activity of devices could not pose a threat to the integrity of a flight.
NASA has also chimed in on the issue, saying that there have been no cases of electronic devices on planes having ever “produced scientific evidence that a device can harm a plane’s operation.”
If I’m on a plane and it goes down, best believe I’m tweeting before I die!
Stephen Willard | Elite.
