OK, OK, OK!  For all you "Engineer types", the real reason that you will "most likely" not get signal for a cell phone on a plane is NOT the distance, it is the fact that the "tranceivers" on a cell tower are NOT omni directional.  The tranceiver MUST be pointed or aimed in the direction of the sky in order to obtain a signal at 35,000 feet.  And the towers are pointed to maximize the GROUND coverage!  In order to get consistant cell coverage in a plane you would HAVE TO have a system installed on the plane that has a direct uplink to a satellite or a microwave transmitter to the ground.  That is what is installed on planes with the phones installed on planes now (the few that have them, you know the ones on the back of the headrest?)

That again is the reason that the "cell calls" repoted to have taken place on 911 are total BS!  Would Not, Could Not, DID NOT happen!  The plane that supposudly went down in Pennsylvania did not have that system and even if it did, the guy was "supposudly" in the bathroom when he made the call to his grandmother that he had to give his first and last name too (what a crock!).

I worked in the cellular industry for 12 years and this information was discussed at length and depth after 911.  Anyone with ANY common sense and basic knowledge of how cellular works knows that the calls from the plane on 911 NEVER happened!

There are very few instances where you do get some "skip" and might recieve a text mssge or a call.  But you would NEVER be able to hold a call for more than about 5-10 seconds anywhere above about 15,000 feet and NEVER at 35,000 feet.  That is simply a fairy tail, much like the government finding an UNSCATHED MAHOMMAD OTTA PASSPORT in the rubble of the twin towers.

“It is the duty of the Patriot to protect his country from its government” - Thomas Payne

“They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither" – Benjamin Franklin

Cell phones will only work until about 15,000 feet without additional technology installed on airplanes.  How can I say this?  I am an electrical engineer and I have actually tried this.  I know the phone will not interfere with the craft systems so I gave it a shot and signal is lost around 15,000 and could not be regained at a higher altitude.

I like that cell phones must be turned off, if for no other reason than it makes for a more peaceful flight. Can you imagine the chatter if they were allowed on flights. I don't want to listen to dozens of business calls at once. Ahhhhh!

I have a lot of thoughts on cell phone usage and the dangers but I actually want to write in response to those who are speaking about cell coverage in the sky. I recently managed a blimp campaign in which I worked closely with individuals flying in the gondola of a blimp and their coverage was cutting out frequently at 1500 feet. It seems that most cell towers are set to operate like a floodlight pointed downwards at an angle and there is not a lot of coverage once you get even to that low elevation. Now, satellite based receivers can do quite well at high altitudes and we were considering installing one. I don't know much about 9-11 truth but my guess would be that any cell availability in a commercial plane would be tapping into the plane's own satellite antennae.

I would prefer to have a little signal transmitter in my pocket that with one button will immediately block and shut down every cell phone within hearing distance. There is nothing better than SILENCE!

marvin

I understand people having different opinions, but it's interesting that there is some disagreement about the FACTS  of cellular communication on airplanes, and how the technology works.  What's up with that?

I'm  radio engineer.  Infact 15k feet is 3 miles.  Cellphones and towers have been commumicating that distance for a long time, and with many land obstacles to boot.  Distance is not the problem.  Quite possibly most of the signal get's lost in the metal tube, or in the case of the signal from the tower, can't get into the tube.  But it may also be that the equipment at the cell tower site, which is in a technical communication with regional equipment, may recognize when a single handset is making contact with too many towers an thus is promptly ignored.  And one other likely explanation has something to do with the celltower's antenna array, whose signal (both send and recieve) is directionally focused extremely horizontally.  This increases the gain of the both the send and received signal, and it prevents wasting allot of send power from heading toward outer space.  Or a combination of all three!

Since Dr. M invented the "Blue Tube", maybe he can invent a special anti-radiation pouch to store the cell phone in. Some people cannot have cell phones off, such as EMT's, physicians, police, fire, etc that are "on-call" much of the time and need that cell phone on to be reachable in case of emergencies.  I know of several people that are emergency responders that do not sit around waiting for the phone to ring a do go out motorcycle riding, boating where even with a one-way pager, they cannot access a pay phone because pay phones are like dinosaurs . In the type of world we live in, people demand and expect instant response, hence the cell phone makes that possible. Also, I know of people with medical conditions that the cell phone has been their help line and even in one instance has saved their life!

What people fail to realize is regardless if the cell phones and radios are turned on or off the radio waves and signals are still in the air all around you......... That's why you will notice hospitals will allow you to now use cell phones in most ares of the hospitals nowadays. The only way one will hamper with an airplanes avionics equipment is if someone has tampered with with the frequencies of one or the other.

Cell phones can and have interefered with aircraft electronics.

I've often wondered about the whole 'cell phones interfere with equipment' claim. My employer used the same excuse to prohibit us from using them on the factory floor. What doesn't make sense is that we ARE allowed to use walkie-talkies. These things are so big that the battery packs alone are bigger than most cell phones.

On a side note, it seems like it should be possible to create a system of low-powered, mini-towers that could be installed/connected directly to the utility poles. What better place to put a cell phone mini-tower? You already have access to both the phone lines and a source of electricity. If every utility pole served as a cell antenna, you wouldn't need as much power to transmit the signal.

dmspilot00 is absolutely correct. A Lufthansa 747-400 departing San Francisco aborted a take off at a high rate of knots when the auto-thrust retarded the thrust levers to idle. Blew all the tires. Cause was found to be a passenger in buisiness class upper deck pushing the send button to make a call on his cell phone. A B767 (from my airline) during the initial climb out, while on auto-pilot, veered dangerously towards high terrain to the right of the intended track. No appearant reason cold be found so the Captain wisely did a quick PA to the cabin asking anyone using a cell phone to turn it off immediately....everythng returned to normal within seconds. Yes, cell phones interfere with aircraft systems.

I can't stand to listen to rude people talking on cell phones in publc. Keep them off limits on the airlines.

The same rude people actually have to be reminded in restaurants.

It is unethical for a company to charge a termination fee, because they are charging for service you are not receiving.  In this (rare) case, the government is just protecting the consumer from fraud.  Kinda like they will hopefully do soon with credit card companies, since the fine print on credit card agreements says that companies can raise their interest rate whenever they want, i.e.  they can break their original agreement.

Although I am not an engineer and have always wondered just how a cell phone can find me anywhere from Alaska to Florida, I can say that a common hand held cell phone will work up to at least 29,000 feet.  I have noticed that if you are directly above a city, the signal is marginal; but if flying on the fringes of a cell area, the coverage is better which confirms the horizontal orientation of the cell tower antenna.  Further, I have not observed any interference with the avionics or systems of the the corporate airplane I fly.  Our policy,however, is make only an essential call, then turn off the phone.

My husband is an airline pilot and has told me that his own cell phone has interfered with his avionics.   It's just not worth it to me to even MAYBE have interference so you can chat on the phone while we are flying in the air depending on avionics to keep us SAFE.  Can't people go a few hours without it?  It's not a prosthesis for goodness sake.  And the 911 calls came from low altitudes.  Most of them had just taken off, it takes awhile to get to 35,000 feet.  

Does anybody out there know if Sattelite connections have damaging effects to our health also?