On several airplanes I have flown a cell phone in the cockpit or in the right place in the cabin causes noticeable interference on the VHF comm radios...it's not implausible that it could also degrade a LOC which is on the adjacent frequency range to comms. Who knows what else could be effected. Is it going to cause the explosive bolts on the wings to fire, dooming the airplane? No. But it might create an unneeded distraction at the wrong moment.

Also an analog cell phone (still used in some less-populated areas of the US) in the back seat row will set off the cargo smoke detector in a CRJ 200...that's an automatic blow the bottles and land at nearest suitable...$$$$$$$

 

A lot has changed since those regs were written. Ever notice how they mention specific devices? You can't use a phone but an electric shaver is ok. When I turn on my electric shaver at home it makes the TV fuzzy. Go figure.

I've been told that phones aren't allowed for a couple reason. I haven't had them confirmed. One was that the older analog phones ran on a freq. close enough to cause interference with the ILS. The second reason was that the towers used for cell phones can only handle X amount of operations per second. When in an aircraft and using a phone your phone hits more than one tower. That increases the amount of operations each tower is doing. It also made it hard to be billed by companies where roaming charges applied everywhere. It wasn't uncommon to drive 15 miles and all the sudden be roaming. Now of course these aren't issues but with the FAA it seems that once something is on paper it's pretty much impossible to get rid of it.

 

Honestly, if you're dumb enough to post a video you took below 10,000ft on Myspace, Youtube, etc. and have something to identify who you are ... you deserve to get caught. I don't wish it on anyone, but if you're going to take a video (which we all do at some point or another), just be smart about it There's a ton of great video to be taken and shared!

 

Please speak for yourself only. There are many more of us who take our jobs seriously enough to not intentionally break policy or regulations.

 

On Facebook / Myspace you have the option of allowing only certain users to access the videos (such as your 'friends' list)

 

Forgive me for my ignorance, but is the FAA saying that all videos taken by pilots or jumpseaters are against the rules? So all of the thousands of videos on YouTube of takeoffs and landings, whether it be in a CRJ-200 or an A340 or a B747, are not permissable? I guess I don't understand how it's wrong for a pilot in the jumpseat to video tape another pilot flying an approach. If I were an airline pilot, I would love to have a video that shows the professional environment everyone operates under.

 

Hey, it's no mistake that my commercial training didn't take the top spot.

 

I want to see an outside perspective of how I run my cockpit. What better way than having a jumpseater videotape it for analysis later?

 

If I remember correctly, they did find that a cell phone could cause severe interference to a VOR receiver if the electrical shielding on the wires connected to the VOR receiver had been removed or broken. It is perfectly plausible (in Mythbusters terms) to assume that if the shielding on the wiring had been broken, a cell phone could cause problems. I'm not saying it's likely, but plausible... maybe.

 

For cripe's sake dude, chillax a little...! So serious Mr. Captain Mason ::smart salute::