Fail Safe, Fly Safe

I read an interesting article about electronic devices on aircraft today.

I guess I should recommend it so you can have an additional appreciation of what I'm talking about Here.

Basically it talks about the risk that mobile phones, PDAs, iPads, iPods and the various array of devices we tend to carry with us day to day, especially if we're travelling! A quick read of the comments after reading the article instils the inevitable desperation with humanity that neither the deniers nor the advocators quite understood what was being said. So I'd like to clarify and expand for anyone who cares to read this.

One of the first things that article said, that while the chances of it affecting the aircraft detrimentally are small, that doesn't mean they don't exist! Do you want to be on the plane that had that fault that lead to the thing that caused the blackout which lead to the crash? I don't.

Aviation tries its darnedest to rather be safe than sorry. I'll say it right now, a single mobile phone won't bring a plane down on it's own. But that's not to say there won't be five other things that won't bring a plane down on their own, that just happen to all occur at the same time.

But I don't want to bring this message across based on scaring you into submission, because I don't think that works. I'm going to explain to you why you should switch off all your electrical devices until the seatbelt sign goes off. It breaks down to two basic parts, the technical, and the psychological. I'm going to explain the technical first, and then the psychological, the latter of which will help to explain why the seat-belt sign is so important in this case.

I wish the mobile or cell phone thing was obvious. Ever left your phone next to some speakers? You know you sometimes hear that interference? Well mobile phones send signals and interfere with communications with the ground and navigation. Usually it'll never amount to anything more than a distraction and nuisance for the pilots, but this is where society is against you. We always thing of "me, me, me, me, me"; "I can't possible cause any trouble with my tiny phone!" and that's true.

• But here's fun fact one: one phone is fine, but try imagining all 540 passengers on an A380 leaving their phones on! And what of all those business people who have a work phone and a personal phone? Easily 550 phones, if not more!
• Now, fun fact number two: your phone regulates how much power goes to the antenna. If you're standing next to a cell-phone mast, you have full signal with very little power! However the further you get away from it, the more power your phone has to use. Ever notice when you're down to one-bar of signal or no signal your battery runs out faster (say when you're in a rural area)? That's your phone using all the power it can! And that's what happens as your aircraft climbs.
• Linked to fun fact number two is number three: the reason you're hearing about some companies allowing mobile phone calls on-board, even Ryanair, is because they've basically installed a cell-phone tower inside the plane, which means all the cell phones are using very little power to talk to the cell, as described above. They also have a lot more shielding, that all the large modern planes have, so using a phone is a bit more risky on the older or smaller aircraft!

This effect is much more drastic with GPS receivers, and they should definitely be avoided! They try and talk to as many satellites as they can, and since they're a lot further away than phone-cells, they use more power!

Now you're thinking, "OK, so I get why phones are bad, and that it's all about lots of people doing it, not just me, but why my iPod?!" What a good question! First of all, some basic physics: run a current (electricity) through a wire and you get an electro-magnetic field. Radio waves are electro-magnetic waves, and can be generated by varying the electro-magnetic field. Some music players take advantage of this and have built in radios that use the headphones as an antenna! Genius! Unfortunately it's this effect, of simply having headphones, that generates magnetic disturbances that can cause interference. But I have to be honest with you, it's just so damn small, it's practically insignificant, and decent headphones (no, not the basic Apple ones, and not the crappy in-flight entertainment ones either) can have shielding to drastically reduce this. However, close to the ground you have loads of things interfering with each-other and the plane. This may be a teeny-tiny contribution, but it adds up. And with aviation, if we're not sure, just be on the safe side and don't allow it.

But to me, the most important reason not to use any electrical device until the seatbelt signs are off are for psychological reasons. Or at least, that's the best way it occurred to me to describe them! In my opinion not even reading should be allowed, but I know that's a bit extreme.

Have you ever taken a flight during night? When it's dark outside? Did you notice they turn off the lights to dim the cabin? The reason they do that is so your eyes are more accustomed to the light conditions outside, because in case of an evacuation, it'll be handy if you can see outside! If it's bright in the cabin, when you go out in the dark, you won't be able to see anything for a while until your eyes adjust! The take-off and landing stages are the most dangerous, so it's when we have to be extra safe. In this vain, you're not allowed to use electronic devices so that you can hear properly the Cabin Crew's instructions (so, no headphones!) and that your aware of your surroundings, so that when an emergency happens, you're not suddenly trying to remember where you are!! This is why I spend the whole climb looking around and out of the window, to entertain myself whilst keeping aware of what's going on, even if most of the time it's nothing. So as you can imagine this applies to iPads, iPods, laptops, and especially phones! You don't want to be in the middle of the call when you're told to take the brace position! (Which BTW can save your life, not just preserve your teeth as some myths have it). And that's also why your tray table has to be up! So you can bend down! And why your seat has to be forward, so the person behind you can bend down!!

If you're honest, the climb happens quite quickly, and while what I said to do to be safe may seem a little daunting, you know it's actually only for a short period of time, and yes it's a mild inconvenience, but if you're on that unlucky flight, and you survive because you could get out of the plane fast enough as you were aware and paying attention, then you'll be glad you were!

The reason the seat-belt sign going off is so important, and why the cabin crew might be caught moving about before it's gone off, is because it signals the end of the climb, or the first bit anyway. You may notice that the plane goes from a pretty steep climb (it feels like it), to a slightly shallower climb, and shortly after, the seatbelt signs go off. At that point, the plane is in no rush to climb quickly because it's nice and far from the ground, so when something goes wrong, there's time to do something about it (unlike when you're close to the ground!). So when it goes off, it's your signal that everything's fine, and you're now in the cruise, the safest part of the flight! I highly recommend you keep your seat-belt on at all times, as turbulence isn't always predictable, and you could be flung up very suddenly. It's been known to happen on occasion! With several people injured unfortunately. So yeah, just be safe, it doesn't matter if it's a bit loose, as long as it's buckled it'll give you a little protection.

I hope you can see why this makes it safer, (and why I'd discourage reading too)... and so next time you fly, be safe!