I don't know about you, but when it's time for me to go to the airport, I dread all of the procedures that have to be followed. The ones like no food or drink past the gate, and waiting in long lines to be physically examined with an x-ray by an airport employee, and oh how about having to take your belongings off and put them in bins, including your flip flops...ew. Then there are procedures when you get on the plane too. The ones like listening to the flight attendants speak, checking seatbelts and luggage compartments, and turning off all electrical devices, cell phones having to remain off or in airplane mode the entire duration of the flight. But, can using your cell phone, laptop, or mp3 player really result in an unsafe loss of altitude? Did you know that that theory has never been verified?
On msn.com I found an article on the research that is being done by the Federal Aviation Administration to see whether or not portable electronics can be used safely during all phases of a flight, including takeoff and landing. This relates back to what we've been discussing in class, causation vs. correlation.
Being able to text during flight may seem risky to you, or maybe you think this should have been approved a long time ago and would like to see the use of cell phones and electronics during your flight passed. I think there are interesting concepts regarding both for cell phone usage and against cell phone usage on aircraft.
Would you like to voice your opinion on this? If so, the Federal Aviation Administration would like you to comment on the use of cell phones and other electronics on aircraft. Do you think it would be unsafe to allow this? Is this a procedure you'd like to see change?
Apparently air travel is the most safe form of travel. Hundreds of thousands of accidents and injuries occur yearly due to car crashes, and although there are flight accidents, there are not nearly as many. However surviving an airplane crash and a car crash are two completely separate stories. Although you said the theory about cell phone use on a plane has never been verified i think we can all go a few hours without our cellular device, and not risk the chance of anything happening.
I agree with Nicholas. Air travel is very safe and much less risky than driving a car. However, many people are much more concerned about the thought of flying. It is very interesting to me how oblivious people can be to simple statistical data. It is clear that airplanes are very safe and not risky to fly in, yet so many people are so scared. I think that some of the myths, like cell phones and computers crashing a plane contribute to the fear. I feel like many people fear a plane will go down because someone has to send that one text during the flight. Maybe some more concrete data about wireless devices will give more people peace of mind about flying.