Who actually turns off their mobile phone?

[bigjobs]

Yes - always turn it off.

An aircraft is simply a flying radio transmitter and reciever. when you are sitting in your seat you are within feet of all sorts of sensitive electronics that are vital to keeping you in a state that they human brain has been able to create and the human body is not designed to be in.

i think it is perfectly reasonable to expect that a mobile, or a number of mobiles, which are radio transmitting and recieving devices could interfere with flight systems.

Given what each person places at risk by making the choice to get on the plane i think we owe it to each other to do our bit(s) to make the flight as safe as possible.

cheers.

 

[shillard]

I put people who DON'T turn their phone off when instructed (multiple times) in the same category as those who cannot keep left unless overtaking.

I also propose the same solution, but supplement Protective Services for Highway Patrol. They both have .40 Glocks these days so I can still buy the one lot of ammo to donate.

 

[tuapekastar]

Definitely switch it off...do not want it interrupting my flight, do not want to put my flying in a tin can at any further unnecessary risk, and especially would not want the embarrassment of being caught out.

On a related note, after landing at MEL on a QF flight from AKL recently, we were advised by the captain while taxi-ing to the terminal that mobiles could now be switched on. Fair enough. However, when waiting in the immigration queue I saw an immigration officer quite sternly tick off a waiting passenger in another queue for using their mobile in that area. A touch misleading/confusing for the pax concerned, I would have thought, having been given the green light by the captain to switch on, and by implication, use it. Anyone know if there is an 'official' policy on mobile usage in the inbound immigration area? I didn't notice any signs banning it.

 

[JohnK]

Anyone know if there is an 'official' policy on mobile usage in the inbound immigration area? I didn't notice any signs banning it.

Don't know of any policy but have seen signs of a mobile with a red diagonal line through it, similar to a no smoking sign, when approaching immigration counters in Sydney and Melbourne.

I have noticed in Bangkok as well. Don't remember if I saw it in Singapore and Hong Kong.

 

[oz_mark]

Anyone know if there is an 'official' policy on mobile usage in the inbound immigration area? I didn't notice any signs banning it.

Don't know of any policy but have seen signs of a mobile with a red diagonal line through it, similar to a no smoking sign, when approaching immigration counters in Sydney and Melbourne.

I have noticed in Bangkok as well. Don't remember if I saw it in Singapore and Hong Kong.

Certainly not allowed in Perth. I have seen signs and people being asked to turn their phones off.

 

[cabbage74]

I consider the ban on mobile phones is due to security. If dodgy people can't communicate with each other they are less likely to suceed in whatever they are trying to achieve. Personally I wouldn't try with or without a phone.

 

[JohnK]

What is worrying is that 2 people (38 votes, 5%) have voted "Usually don't worry about turning it off" and 1 person (2%) has voted "Very rarely or never turn it off".

You wish these people were on your flight and something went wrong. Not.

Shame on you. No respect.

 

[Yada Yada]

Don't remember if I saw it in Singapore and Hong Kong.

Yes, same applies for Singapore.

I don't think it applies in Hong Kong. Last time I was there my wife phoned just as I was arriving at the airport in the taxi. I talked to her all the way through check-in and immigration, the phone went through the x-ray conveyor while still connected, and finally hung up when I reached the CX lounge. No-one said a word to me.

 

[NM]

Last time I was there my wife phoned just as I was arriving at the airport in the taxi. I talked to her all the way through check-in and immigration, the phone went through the x-ray conveyor while still connected, and finally hung up when I reached the CX lounge. No-one said a word to me.

What??? No-one??? Not even Mrs YY??? I find that hard to believe.

I am yet to find a woman who can listen on the phone for that period of time and not say a word . I would expect she kept talking right through the x-ray machine and didn't even notice you were not listening for a period .

 

[Yada Yada]

What??? No-one??? Not even Mrs YY??? I find that hard to believe.

I am yet to find a woman who can listen on the phone for that period of time and not say a word . I would expect she kept talking right through the x-ray machine and didn't even notice you were not listening for a period .

Oops... Mrs YY did indeed speak many words! :wink:

 

[swissbignose]

I thought the point of the immigration signs was to instruct people not to USE their mobile phones. One can have it on...

As I understand it...

 

[Clumpy]

Think of the crew

There is another reason to switch off your phones, iPods etc. I often travel with young bucks who are all about not doing what they're told (no self-respecting 20-something male wants to appear to be kow-towing to THE MAN), because they heard from someone that phones really do not interfere with nav systems, or whatever. What they fail to realise is, even if it's all a pile of rubbish, the cabin crew are instructed to make sure everyone complies with this request, and it is a major pain in the cough for them to have to repeatedly ask one or two recalcitrant younk know-alls to turn their electronic devices off.

So in the intrests of making life easier for the hard-working crew, please have the courtesy to heed their requests, and stop this charade of trying to get away with it followed by begrudgingly making a fuss of turning your all-important game-thing off.

 

[dajop]

With my old phone, if pressing against something it could turn on during flight. This happened to me twice (with a call on final approach), so from then on I started taking the battery out for the flight (or at the very least put the phone on silent mode) to save the embarrassment.

When I first got my blackberry, this happened once, and I had four calls during final approach. So now always goes into flight mode & silent mode so it can't accidentally turn on.

I am sure quite a few of the people whose phones operate during flight, it is not intentional but merely a product of phone design that allows it to switch on so easily.

 

[QF WP]

Welcome to AFF, Clumpy.

...because they heard from someone that phones really do not interfere with nav systems, or whatever. What they fail to realise is, even if it's all a pile of rubbish...

Clumpy, from the underlined section of the quote above, it seems that you don't believe it either. Perhaps you missed reading the second and third posts on Page 1, where researchers have proven they do interfere with aircraft operation.

I wouldn't want to be the reason for the failure of any aircraft system, nor would I have any respect for others that (generally through ignorance and lack of common sense) flout the "rules".

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

My phone folds itself over the buttons so I cant accidentally switch it on. However, one thing I have always wondered is if I forget to switch off an alarm and it activates (yes even if phone is switched off it will go) will this cause any problems (other than embarrassment for me)?

 

[sambo]

Kiwi Flyer,

It's difficult to say with any certainty whether your phone starts the transceiver(the offending element) or not when it auto powers up for the alarm, as every phone is different. If the phone appears to have fully switched on when this happens, then the answer is likely to be yes. You could test it by calling your phone from another phone as soon as it has switched on to ring the alarm, and if it sees the incoming call then you can be sure that the transceiver is switched on.

Hope that answers your question.

 

[DJ737]

Hi there

I forgot to turn my phone off once (the only time) and it rang during finals to MEL one evening

The screen display said i missed a call from someone i knew, she never even called at that time, so it must of went off by itself :?

Cheers
DJ737

 

[serfty]

Kiwi Flyer,

It's difficult to say with any certainty whether your phone starts the transceiver(the offending element) or not when it auto powers up for the alarm, as every phone is different. If the phone appears to have fully switched on when this happens, then the answer is likely to be yes. You could test it by calling your phone from another phone as soon as it has switched on to ring the alarm, and if it sees the incoming call then you can be sure that the transceiver is switched on.

Hope that answers your question.

Having experienced this, I know that my Ericsson 'phone only did the alarm thing; it did open up with any other functions. However, it was EXTREMELY embarassing...

 

[Mal]

My phone folds itself over the buttons so I cant accidentally switch it on. However, one thing I have always wondered is if I forget to switch off an alarm and it activates (yes even if phone is switched off it will go) will this cause any problems (other than embarrassment for me)?

further to sambo's suggestion, set the alarm, switch off the phone and put it on top of your radio. If it starts the transmitting you'll get the interference noise through your radio as it polls.

I normally switch my phone to silent before switching it off. I wonder if the alarm would make noise in that situation, or just vibrate.

Hmmm. Stuff for me to test when I'm bored!

 

[JohnK]

I normally switch my phone to silent before switching it off. I wonder if the alarm would make noise in that situation, or just vibrate.

The alalm on my phone needs to be enabled via the menu everytime you want to use it. Saves embarrassing moments when switched off!