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Originally Posted by tatty
Do 802.11b/g wireless cards or bluetooth have any affect on the aircraft? I bet very few people remember to disable their cards before switching on the laptop. Perhaps the 2.4Ghz frequency doesn't affect anything.
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Anything that transmits radio frequency is not permitted in flight. On most devices its easy to turn off the radios. However, these are most unlikely to cause any interference issues on an aircraft and I think one day we will see 802.11b offered in-flight for internet access - but not for a while.
On a recent flight, the Captain made an announcement that someone in the cabin was using a WiFi device and could they please disable the radio. He specifically mentioned the device ID that was being transmitted. So to find that out, he must have had a laptop or PPC and done a scan looking for available SSIDs.
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Originally Posted by tatty
As for the mobile phones. QF always said you had to wait until well inside the terminal building due to refuelling taking place. I watched Myth Busters try to light a sealed area of fuel vapour with a mobile phone without any result.
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One of the main reasons they don't like phone being used inside the plane is that they can cause interference with the radio communications and intercom systems in the aircraft. Try sitting your GSM mobile phone next to a regular land-line telephone or near an AM/FM radio and call it. Many times you will hear a loud "da-da-da-da" sound on the landline phone or radio receiver. This can also happen on to the aircraft's intercom and external radio receivers depending on just how close the mobile phone is to the aircraft's systems. Such interference could cause an important communication to be disrupted or missed.
I believe the risk of a mobile phone causing the aircraft flight control systems to malfunction is very minimal. But the risk of a mobile phone interfering with the internal or external communication systems and hence the flight crew missing an important instruction from ATC does exist. Hence by leaving them off until the seatbelt sign is extinguished, that risk is decreased.
I don't believe bluetooth poses any such risk.
However, in all this it is important to remember one thing. It makes no difference at all if your device is harmless. It is a legal requirement that all passengers must obey an instruction give by a Flight Attendent on an aircraft. Failing to abide by an FA's instruction is an offence. So if the FA says to turn it off, then off it must go - no arguements. Even if the FA has no clue about what type of device you have and whether it is even capable of transmitting and causing interference.
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