flight safe mode

LegacyUser

i'm interested in getting a flight safe mobile phone, i fly quite a bit, and it would be great to pass the time.

my question is, do airlines realy allow these? technicaly, they should, but you know how anal they can be.

has anyone had any experiences with this on a ryanair or aerlingus flight, or any other flight?

Pythia

I presume they treat them the same way as they do iPods and the likes...?

whiskeyman

http://www.sbpost.ie/breakingnews/breaking_story.asp?j=23065224&p=z3x653z8&n=23065408
I'd say the staff will be very anal and will demand you turn it off no matter if you say its flight safe or not.

LegacyUser

whiskeyman wrote:

http://www.sbpost.ie/breakingnews/breaking_story.asp?j=23065224&p=z3x653z8&n=23065408
I'd say the staff will be very anal and will demand you turn it off no matter if you say its flight safe or not.

i heard about this, would be v handy. i've a feeling ryanair would charge for such an aditional service.

Zapp Brannigan

the Nokia 6630 and 6680 both have an offline mode where the sim card is switched off, but every other function of the phone is available to use.

TCP/IP

i have an Imate SP3i and use the flight mode on it all the time, never been given any hassle on ryanair or Aer Lingus

therecklessone

I fly Ryanair quite a bit and I'm *nearly* sure they insist that phones in flight safe mode are switched off. I'll confirm tomorrow evening, I'm flying in the morning with them.

*could alternatively be British Midland*

mik_da_man

I have a 6630 and have used it on aer lingus in offline mode with no probs.

just to let ya know a mobile does not interfere with aircraft when they are in flight. Just when they are landing / taking off.

Mik

Random

I doubt a mobile phone would crash a plane taking off or landing either ... it's just a precaution - technology has come a long way but regulations haven't.


And good luck explaining to the nice cabin assistant what flight mode is

therecklessone

therecklessone wrote:

I fly Ryanair quite a bit and I'm *nearly* sure they insist that phones in flight safe mode are switched off. I'll confirm tomorrow evening, I'm flying in the morning with them.

*could alternatively be British Midland*

It must be British Midland, cos they said nowt on the Ryanair flight to Stansted today.

Our man in Havana

You know that its just a rouse so that you have to use the expensive air phones.

Random

They still want "flight mode" phones turned off during take-off and landing too, yes, just like walkmans and mp3 players.

Somebody please tell me (to quote Toby from The West Wing) a 10 dollar piece of equipment bought in radio-shack can bring down a plane?

LegacyUser

therecklessone wrote:

I fly Ryanair quite a bit and I'm *nearly* sure they insist that phones in flight safe mode are switched off. I'll confirm tomorrow evening, I'm flying in the morning with them.

*could alternatively be British Midland*

what happened?

therecklessone

paperclip wrote:

what happened?

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=3488977&postcount=10

Dellas

1. Mobiles in flight safety mode can be used once the aircraft has reached cruising altitude and are treated the same as walkmans or gameboys thats an industry standard. If a flight attendant questions it when they see you holding a mobile then thats them doing their job!!!! Whats to stop some gob****e not turning it to the correct position by accident or on purpose!!!

The reason for this is for YOUR safety and that of the fellow passengers.

2. Mobiles and items from Radio Shack (didnt know we had one here) can mess up the aircrafts navigational systems and cockpit radio system. I was on a long Haul flight last year and some Dutch guy didnt observe the rules and his hand held device actually did something to disrupt the navigation system in the cockpit so we had to turn back such was the disruption and he was arrested upon landing by Police. We were delayed 4 hours and had to get onto another aircraft!!!!!

So I speak from experience ...Id rather arrive alive !!!!

BrianD

I flew from Boston to Dublin on Tuesday. the guy beside me left his phone on in his jacket that got burried in the overhead lockers. Surprisingly we made it and landed safely in Belgrade. Only joking.

Ruu_Old

think the whole mobile phone thing is a load of sheet, its just precautionary. Just like they tell you to switch phones off while at the petrol station. Didnt they watch Brainiacs?!?

HelterSkelter

therecklessone wrote:

It must be British Midland, cos they said nowt on the Ryanair flight to Stansted today.

They tell you to put laptops with wirless network cards into flight safe mode on BMI. They tell you to turn mobiles off.

I'd say you would get nothing but hassle using a flight safe mobile phone, they are not too common so you are going to get the cabin crew telling you to turn it off, other passengers will be giving you dirty looks, etc. Sure Aer Lingus don't even allow you to use a portable CD player during the flight!!!

HelterSkelter

ciaranfo wrote:

They still want "flight mode" phones turned off during take-off and landing too, yes, just like walkmans and mp3 players.

Somebody please tell me (to quote Toby from The West Wing) a 10 dollar piece of equipment bought in radio-shack can bring down a plane?

Well they use some very sensitive equipment to guide the plane to the runway during bad weather or if there is low cloud. The pilots can't see the runway until the last minute so they are depending on this guidance system being accurate. If a mobile phone interfers with the guidance system the plane could end up landing in the sea!! I have also heard pilots complain about mobile phones interfering with their radio equipment, you know that annoying sound if you use your phone near a radio or anything else with a speaker? They get that in their headset sometimes if someone is using a mobile and can't hear instructions from air traffic control.

Solair

Airlines are very very very cautious about allowing any equipment on board that could interfere with telemetry / communications equipment.

Just beware you might come across the odd air hostess who will have no particular interest in your "Flight safe mobile" and will pin you to the ground with your arm behind your back while beating you over the head with the contents of the drink trolley... You'll then wake up in guantanmo bay.

rubadub

The twin towers were brought down by a nokia 3210, FACT

I think the whole thing is a myth, think I saw it on a website. Just like the phones in petrol stations is bull****

Foggy43

I work on aircraft! OK it wasn't a mobile phone but a PMR Radio. I was on the flight deck of a Jumbo dealing with a technical problem. I had to call my tech control. Every time I 'sent' on my radio the aeroplane started pressurising rapidily. Every time I pressed the send buttton you could watch the outflow valves closing rapidly and feel it in the ear drums! I used a work mates radio (another PMR) and caused no problem. It is inciddents like these that make the authorities very wary.
There is no evidence a mobile could cause problems to Aircraft systems just like Phone Masts to health. It is just a possibility.

There is a mobile phone operator who wants to turn aircraft in to flying mobile phone masts so passengers can make calls. Your phone call will be picked up by the 'base station' on the aircraft which will the communicate with a satelitte and your call goes to its destination. At the moment the aviation authorities are not allowing this move.
Sat phones already on aircraft cost $10 per minute! Passengers do use it! The usual 'Guess where I am' as they watch the 'Moving Map' on their video screen'.

Sarsfield

I kind of like the fact that there's still somewhere on earth (or 35000 ft above) the crazy frog hasn't polluted. Can't we live a few hours without phones? I dread the initial period when phones are allowed in-flight. Half a plane-load of knobheads making calls just to report that they're on the plane.

The Corinthian

paperclip wrote:

i'm interested in getting a flight safe mobile phone, i fly quite a bit, and it would be great to pass the time.

my question is, do airlines realy allow these? technicaly, they should, but you know how anal they can be.

has anyone had any experiences with this on a ryanair or aerlingus flight, or any other flight?

Actually I fly quite a bit too, generally with Aer Lingus, and last week they announced for the first time that the use of "any Blackberry or Bluetooth technology" was strictly forbidden. I could understand the Bluetooth, but I'll often knock up a few emails on my Blackberry with wireless off. Interesting new policy, in that it appears to be going in the opposite direction to the rest of the industry.

Mr E

I flew GB Airways (rebranded BA) from Gatwick to Gibraltar a few weeks ago, and the hostess announced that phones and PDAs were to be switched off or set to Flight Mode......

BuffyBot

BA seem to be fairly on the ball with this. The safety videos on some of their newer long haul planes also say that devices can be used in Flight mode.