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In the U.S.,
Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...
(FCC) regulations prohibit the use of
mobile phones A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while ...
aboard aircraft in flight. Contrary to popular misconception, the
Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic ...
(FAA) does not actually prohibit the use of personal electronic devices (including cell phones) on aircraft. Paragraph (b)(5) of 14 CFR 91.21 leaves it up to the airlines to determine if devices can be used in flight, allowing use of "Any other portable electronic device that the operator of the aircraft has determined will not cause interference with the navigation or communication system of the aircraft on which it is to be used."14 Code of Federal Regulations 91.2

. Retrieved August 21, 2009.
In Europe, regulations and technology have allowed the limited introduction of the use of passenger mobile phones on some commercial flights, and elsewhere in the world many
airline An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in wh ...
s are moving towards allowing mobile phone use in flight. Many airlines still do not allow the use of mobile phones on aircraft. Those that do often ban the use of mobile phones during take-off and landing. Many passengers are pressing airlines and their governments to allow and deregulate mobile phone use, while some airlines, under the pressure of competition, are also pushing for deregulation or seeking new technology which could solve the present problems. On the other hand, official aviation agencies and safety boards are resisting any relaxation of the present safety rules unless and until it can be conclusively shown that it would be safe to do so. There are both technical and social factors which make the issues more complex than a simple discussion of safety versus hazard.


The debate on safety

In the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
, the
Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...
(FCC) restricts cell phone usage on aircraft in order to prevent disruption to cellular towers on the ground. As mentioned above, the FAA allows the in-flight use of wireless devices but only after the airline has determined that the device will not interfere with aircraft communication or navigation. One report asserts
correlations In statistics, correlation or dependence is any statistical relationship, whether causal or not, between two random variables or bivariate data. Although in the broadest sense, "correlation" may indicate any type of association, in statistics ...
between the use of mobile phones and other portable electronic devices in flight, and various problems with
avionics Avionics (a blend of ''aviation'' and ''electronics'') are the electronic systems used on aircraft. Avionic systems include communications, navigation, the display and management of multiple systems, and the hundreds of systems that are fit ...
. Another study concluded that some "portable electronic devices", including laptops, electronic toys and laser pointers, used in the cabin can exceed the aircraft manufacturer's permissible emission levels for safety with regard to some avionics, while they were unsuccessful in duplicating any of the errors suspected to be caused by these devices use in controlled lab conditions. Since these regulations were originally imposed by various international aviation agencies, ultra-low-power devices, such as
picocell A picocell is a small cellular base station typically covering a small area, such as in-building (offices, shopping malls, train stations, stock exchanges, etc.), or more recently in-aircraft. In cellular networks, picocells are typically used to e ...
s, have been developed. Reasons for this include improved security, reduction of interference, and to allow safe in-flight use of mobile phones. Many airline companies have now added such equipment to their aircraft. More are expected to do so in the coming years.


Electromagnetic interference

Electromagnetic interference Electromagnetic interference (EMI), also called radio-frequency interference (RFI) when in the radio frequency spectrum, is a disturbance generated by an external source that affects an electrical circuit by electromagnetic induction, electrost ...
to aircraft systems is a common argument offered for banning mobile phones (and other passenger electronic devices) on planes. Theoretically, active
radio transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the ...
s such as mobile phones, walkie–talkies, portable computers or gaming devices may interfere with the aircraft. Non-transmitting electronic devices also emit electromagnetic radiation, although typically at a lower power level, and could also theoretically affect the aircraft electronics. Collectively, any of these may be referred to as portable electronic devices (PEDs). A
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedin ...
publication details the fifty most recent reports to the
Aviation Safety Reporting System The Aviation Safety Reporting System, or ASRS, is the US Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) voluntary confidential reporting system that allows pilots, air traffic controllers, cabin crew, dispatchers, maintenance technicians, ground operat ...
(ASRS) regarding "avionics problems that may result from the influence of passenger electronic devices." The nature of these reports varies widely. Some merely describe passengers' interactions with flight crews when asked to stop using an electronic device. Other reports amount to crews reporting an anomaly experienced at the same time a passenger was witnessed using a mobile phone. A few reports state that interference to aircraft systems was observed to appear and disappear as that particular suspect device was turned on and off. One entry in the ASRS, designated ACN: 440557, reports a clear link where a passenger's DVD player induced a 30-degree error in the display of the aircraft's heading, each time the player was switched on. However, this report dates back to 1999 and involves a
Boeing 727 The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavy 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller air ...
, an old type of aircraft that is no longer in use by airlines today. A 2003 study''
IEEE Spectrum ''IEEE Spectrum'' is a magazine edited by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. The first issue of ''IEEE Spectrum'' was published in January 1964 as a successor to ''Electrical Engineering''. The magazine contains peer-reviewe ...
'' (March 2006).
Unsafe At Any Airspeed?
involved three months of testing with RF
spectrum analyzer A spectrum analyzer measures the magnitude of an input signal versus frequency within the full frequency range of the instrument. The primary use is to measure the power of the spectrum of known and unknown signals. The input signal that most co ...
s and other instruments aboard regular commercial flights, and one passage reads: A 2000 study by the British Civil Aviation Authority found that a mobile phone, when used near the cockpit or other avionics equipment location, will exceed safety levels for older equipment (compliant with 1984 standards). Such equipment is still in use, even in new aircraft. Therefore, the report concludes, the current policy, which restricts the use of mobile phones on all aircraft while the engines are running, should remain in force. Critics of the ban doubt that small battery-powered devices would have any significant influence on a commercial jetliner's shielded electronic systems. Safety researchers Tekla S. Perry and Linda Geppert point out that shielding and other protections degrade with increasing age, cycles of use, and even some maintenance procedures, as is also true of the shielding in PEDs, including mobile phones. Several reports argue both sides of the issue in the same article; on the one hand they highlight the lack of definite evidence of mobile phones causing significant interference, while on the other hand they point out that caution in maintaining restrictions on using mobile phones and other PEDs in flight is the safer course to take.
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadc ...
(July 20, 1999).
Can Mobile Phones Bring Down Planes?


The debate on other issues


Social resistance to mobile phone use on flights

Many people may prefer a ban on mobile phone use in flight as it prevents undue amounts of noise from mobile phone chatter.
AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile ...
has suggested that in-flight mobile phone restrictions should remain in place in the interests of reducing the nuisance to other passengers caused by someone talking on a mobile phone near them.


Competition for airlines' in-flight phone service

Skeptics of the ban have suggested that the airlines support the ban because they do not want passengers to have an alternative to the in-flight phone service such as GTE's
Airfone Airfone was an air-ground radiotelephone service developed by MCI founder John D. Goeken, and operated under the names ''Airfone'', ''GTE Airfone'', and Verizon Airfone. Airfone allowed passengers to make telephone calls (later including data ...
. Andy Plews, a spokesman for UAL's United Airlines, was quoted as saying "We don't believe it's a good safety issue...We'd like people to use the air phones."


Current status


In flight technology

On 31 October 2013, the FAA issued a press release entitled "FAA to Allow Airlines to Expand Use of Personal Electronics" in which it announced that "airlines can safely expand passenger use of Portable Electronic Devices (PEDs) during all phases of flight." This new policy does not include cell phone use in flight, because, as the press release states, "The FAA did not consider changing the regulations regarding the use of cell phones for voice communications during flight because the issue is under the jurisdiction of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)." This FAA press release was quickly followed up by an FCC press release entitled "Chairman Wheeler Statement on In-Flight Mobile Services Proposal" in which FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler states, "modern technologies can deliver mobile services in the air safely and reliably, and the time is right to review our outdated and restrictive rules." This has led to media speculationWall Street Journal (November 22, 2013)
U.S. to Consider Cellphone Use on Planes
'
that the use of cell phones for voice communication on board an aircraft in flight will soon be allowed. Some airlines have installed technologies to allow phones to be connected within the airplane as it flies. Such systems were tested on scheduled flights from 2006 and in 2008 several airlines started to allow in-flight use of mobile phones.


Status of specific regions and individual airlines

;China As of 2018, Chinese regulations (and major carriers including China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines and Air China) permit phone usage in flight mode (with transmitters off). ;Emirates Airline On 20 March 2008,
Emirates Emirates may refer to: * United Arab Emirates, a Middle Eastern country * Emirate, any territory ruled by an emir ** Gulf emirates, emirates located on the Persian Gulf ** Emirates of the United Arab Emirates, the individual emirates * The Emirat ...
flights began allowing in-flight voice calls on some commercial airline flights. ;European services
AeroMobile AeroMobile Communications Limited is a registered mobile network operator for the aviation industry and is based in the UK. It provides technology and services that allow the safe use of passengers' own mobile phones while inflight. A subsidiary o ...
and OnAir allow the use of personal electronics devices aboard flights. The services are most readily available in Europe and are licensed to specific airlines. ;Qantas Since 26 August 2014
Qantas Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founde ...
permits mobile phones (and other portable electronic devices weighing less than 1 kg; 2 lb) to be switched on during the entire flight, if the devices are in flight mode while on board the aircraft. Jetstar (owned by Qantas) adopted the same arrangements on 30 August 2014. ;Ryanair On 30 August 2006 the Irish airline
Ryanair Ryanair is an Irish ultra low-cost carrier founded in 1984. It is headquartered in Swords, Dublin, Ireland and has its primary operational bases at Dublin and London Stansted airports. It forms the largest part of the Ryanair Holdings famil ...
announced that it would introduce a facility to allow passengers to use their mobile phones in-flight. This service started on 19 February 2009 with 20 of their Dublin-based aircraft. ;Turkish Airlines
Turkish Airlines Turkish Airlines ( Turkish: ''Türk Hava Yolları'') is the national flag carrier airline of Turkey. , it operates scheduled services to 340 destinations in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, making it the largest mainline carrier in the ...
' stated position is that "Mobile phones interfere with the flight instruments and have a negative effect on flight safety." ;Mobile phones on corporate jets
Dassault Aviation Dassault Aviation SA () is a French manufacturer of military aircraft and business jets. It was founded in 1929 by Marcel Bloch as Société des Avions Marcel Bloch or "MB". After World War II, Marcel Bloch changed his name to Marcel Da ...
implemented a new concept designated SafeCell on 2 April 2009 when the Falcon 2000 commenced flying. ;United Kingdom On 18 October 2007 the
Office of Communications The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-ranging powers acros ...
published proposals for the technical and authorisational approach that would be adopted to allow this for European GSM users on the 1800 MHz band on UK registered aircraft. and on 26 March 2008 Ofcom approved the use of mobile phone-supporting picocells aboard aircraft in the United Kingdom. Airline companies will have to first equip the aircraft with picocells and apply for licences.


Regulations and practice in the United States

To prevent disruption to the cellular phone network from the effects of fast-moving cell phones at altitude (see Technical discussion, below), the FCC has banned the use of mobile phones on all aircraft in flight. The FCC did, however, allocate spectra in the 450 MHz and 800 MHz frequency bands for use by equipment designed and tested for
air-ground radiotelephone service Air-ground radiotelephone service is a system which allows voice calls and other communication services to be made from an aircraft to either a satellite or land based network. The service operates via a transceiver mounted in the aircraft on des ...
. These systems use far more widely separated ground stations than standard cellular systems. In the 450 MHz band co-channel assignments are at least 497 miles apart and in the 800 MHz band only specific sites were authorized by the FCC. The 450 MHz service is limited to "general aviation" users, usually corporate jets, while the 800 MHz spectrum can be used by airliners as well as for general aviation. The FAA in 14 C.F.R § 91.21 prohibits the use of portable electronic devices, including mobile phones, for all commercial flights and for those private flights being made under
instrument flight rules In aviation, instrument flight rules (IFR) is one of two sets of regulations governing all aspects of civil aviation aircraft operations; the other is visual flight rules (VFR). The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) ''Instrument F ...
(IFR). It does allow that the airline (or, for privately operated aircraft, the pilot) can make an exception to this rule if the operator deems that device safe. This effectively gives the airline, or the private pilot, the final word as to what devices may safely be used aboard an aircraft as far as the FAA is concerned although the FCC restriction still applies. (Note that for aircraft operated by an airline the pilot is not considered the "operator" and cannot legally allow exceptions to the airline's restrictions although the pilot may dictate ''additional'' restrictions.) On February 11, 2014, the
House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure The U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. History The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure was formerly known as the Committee on Public Works a ...
approved the Prohibiting In-Flight Voice Communications on Mobile Wireless Devices Act. The bill would forbid airline passengers from talking on mobile phones during a flight. In September 2014, a bipartisan group of lawmakers opposed the FCC ending the ban on mobile phones aboard, citing safety as one of the main concerns.


Regulatory status in Europe

In September 2014, the
European Aviation Safety Agency The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) with responsibility for civil aviation safety. It carries out certification, regulation and standardisation and also performs investigation and monito ...
removed its ban on mobile phone use during flights. The new guidance allows airlines to permit portable electronic devices to stay switched on, without the need to be in ‘Airplane Mode’. This enables the ability to offer ‘gate-to-gate’ telecommunication or
WiFi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wa ...
services.


Regulatory status in India

On 19 January 2018, the
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is a regulatory body set up by the Government of India under section 3 of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997. It is the regulator of the telecommunications sector in India. ...
(TRAI) permitted the use of mobile phones and internet access through Wi-Fi on-board all flights operating in Indian airspace. However, passengers are only permitted to make mobile phone calls when the aircraft is at an altitude of over . TRAI stated that the height restriction was to ensure "compatibility with terrestrial mobile networks".


Future technologies

A few U.S. airlines have announced plans to install new technology on aircraft which would allow mobile phones to be used on aircraft, pending approval by the FCC and the FAA. This method is similar to that used in most cars on the German ICE train. The aircraft would carry a device known as a
picocell A picocell is a small cellular base station typically covering a small area, such as in-building (offices, shopping malls, train stations, stock exchanges, etc.), or more recently in-aircraft. In cellular networks, picocells are typically used to e ...
. A picocell acts as a miniature
base station Base station (or base radio station) is – according to the International Telecommunication Union's (ITU) Radio Regulations (RR) – a "land station in the land mobile service." The term is used in the context of mobile telephony, wireless c ...
(like a cellphone tower) communicating with cellphones within the aircraft and relaying the signals to either satellites or a terrestrial-based system. The picocell will be designed and maintained for full compatibility with the aircraft avionics. Communication between the picocell and the rest of the telephone network will be on separate frequencies that do not interfere with either the cellular system or the aircraft's avionics, similarly to the on–board proprietary phone systems already aboard many commercial aircraft. Since the picocell's antennas within the aircraft would be very close to the passengers and inside the aircraft's metal shell both the picocell's and the cell phones' output power could be reduced to very low levels, which would reduce the risk of interference. Such systems have been tested on a few flights within the United States under a waiver from the FCC. ARINC and Telenor have formed a joint venture company to offer such a service aboard commercial aircraft. The cell phone calls are routed via satellite to the ground network and an on-board EMI screening system prevents the cell phones from attempting to contact ground-based networks. These systems are comparatively easy to implement for customers in most of the world where
GSM The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a standard developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to describe the protocols for second-generation ( 2G) digital cellular networks used by mobile devices such ...
phones operating on one of just two bands are the norm. The multitude of incompatible mobile phone systems in the United States and some other countries makes the situation more difficult—it is not clear if the onboard repeaters will be compatible with all of the different cell-phone protocols ( TDMA,
GSM The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a standard developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to describe the protocols for second-generation ( 2G) digital cellular networks used by mobile devices such ...
,
CDMA Code-division multiple access (CDMA) is a channel access method used by various radio communication technologies. CDMA is an example of multiple access, where several transmitters can send information simultaneously over a single communicatio ...
,
iDen Integrated Digital Enhanced Network (iDEN) is a mobile telecommunications technology, developed by Motorola, which provides its users the benefits of a trunked radio and a cellular telephone. It was called the first mobile social network by m ...
) and their respective providers.


Technical discussion

The U.S.
Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...
(FCC) currently prohibits the use of mobile phones aboard ''any'' aircraft in flight. The reason given is that cell phone systems depend on
frequency reuse A cellular network or mobile network is a communication network where the link to and from end nodes is wireless. The network is distributed over land areas called "cells", each served by at least one fixed-location transceiver (typically thr ...
, which allows for a dramatic increase in the number of customers that can be served within a geographic area on a limited amount of radio spectrum, and operating a phone at an altitude may violate the fundamental assumptions that allow channel reuse to work.47 C.F.R. § 22.925 Prohibition on airborne operation of cellular telephone

Retrieved August 21, 2009.


See also

*
Air-ground radiotelephone service Air-ground radiotelephone service is a system which allows voice calls and other communication services to be made from an aircraft to either a satellite or land based network. The service operates via a transceiver mounted in the aircraft on des ...
* Airplane mode


References


Notes


Further reading


Study: Up To 15 Phones Are Left On During Every FlightStudy: In-flight cell calls pose risk to planes
* ttp://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?rgn=div8&node=47:2.0.1.1.2.8.27.12 47 CFR § 22.925: Prohibition on airborne operation of cellular telephones


External links


14 CFR § 91.21: The FAA rules regarding portable electronic devicesAdvisory Circular 91.21-1A: Use of portable electronic devicesCell Phones Interfere with Plane Instruments: BUSTED
summary of an episode of
MythBusters ''MythBusters'' is a science entertainment television program, developed by Peter Rees and produced by Australia's Beyond Television Productions. The series premiered on the Discovery Channel on January 23, 2003. It was broadcast internation ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mobile Phones On Aircraft Aviation risks Mobile telecommunications