i spoke with my friend earlier today, hes going on a flight to Beijing and he mentioned he has a fear of flying. this reminded me of something i could never figure out for sure. why must ALL electronics be turned off during take off and landing?
mobile phones and laptops are switched off for obvious reasons, interference through wireless signals and whatnot. but what about mp3 players, portable consoles, those kind of things. i always thought it was to ensure that all passengers could stay alert and pay attention to flight attendants or any emergency situation which may arise. so why is it they allow people to sleep during take off and landing? that basically contradicts my little theory, so its most likely not the real reason.
i looked it up a bit more and found its because...
1) all devices apparently transmit radio waves. air control towers are built to receive even the slightest transmission, even a weak little ipod radio wave. its unlikely to cause any potentially dangerous interference, but even the slightest possibility that could put passengers lives at stake is taken into account i suppose. better safe than sorry.
2) not all flight attendants are given real training to differentiate a mobile phone or laptop from other electronics. i guess if youre not really a techy person then you could easily mistake a psp for a tiny laptop.. so as a precaution flight attendants are told to make sure ALL electronics are switched off.
well im glad i finally got that figured out. hope it was interesting, i found it interesting..
