The Travel Cell Phone Myth

There’s no way to tell for sure how myths and urban legends get started, but do you remember a game you played as a child where the teacher would whisper a story to one child, and as the story circulated around the group, it became more and more distorted until the final version bore almost no resemblance to the first version? That’s my theory of how myths and urban legends get started.

Air travel is a topic that is ripe with all sorts of myths. Have you heard the one that says that if you use your cell phone on an airplane, it will cause the plane to crash? Horsefeathers! When you board a flight, the same announcement is always made asking (TELLING) you to turn off your cell phones, Blackberries, and all other personal electronic devices (including iPods, Gameboys, and laptops) because “they interfere with the plane’s navigational systems.”

The fact is, cell phones, Blackberries, or other personal electronic devices DO NOT “interfere with the plane’s navigational systems” not even when they’ve bumped up the RF interference these devices give off, up to 100 times their normal levels, at distances of less than three feet from sensitive cockpit avionics, NOTHING HAPPENS. And guess what? The FAA has not set any rule about personal electronic device use. It’s up to each airline to make its own rule regarding personal electronic device use.

However, if it is the policy of the airline that you must turn off your personal electronic devices, and your refusal to do so can make you subject to arrest for “interfering with a flight crew.” So, you must turn all of your personal electronic devices off when you board a plane if the flight crew tells you to turn them off.

The Travel Cell Phone Myth