I flew to and from New York last week, traveling on two different airlines in three different planes. I noticed that, although smoking’s been banned on domestic flights for years, there’s still a “no smoking” light above most seats. And there’s a “fasten seatbelts” light that goes off after the plane’s in the air.
Nowadays, though, there’s an announcement at the beginning of the flight that you can’t turn on approved electronic devices until you get the go-ahead from the crew, after about 10 minutes in the air
It seems like it would make sense to add a “no electronic devices” light that works like the “fasten seatbelts” light. It could be a third light, or it could replace the smoking light, which could really just be a non-electric sign since it’s always in effect.
It’s probably not cost effective to retrofit old planes with new signs. But are new planes being built with an option for a “no electronic devices” light? If not, why not, and will that be available in the forseeable future?
(I assume that the no smoking light is useful on international flights, since smoking is still allowed elsewhere.)
I wouldn’t be surprised if they dropped the “fasten seatbelts” light at some point, since I’ve been on several flights where it stayed on the whole flight.
My WAG is that they don’t care about lights because there’s no reason that it would be coming on or off outside of the set schedule. That is, you can’t use them during takeoff and landing. I’ve never been on a flight where, mid-flight, they ask you to turn off your CD players for a few minutes. This is contrary to the seatbelt sign where there is a need to let the passengers know the current status. AFAIR, this was the same for smoking too.
As a matter of fact (not fact, really…but fuzzy recollection), I believe I have seen a “No Electronic Devices” sign instead of the usual “No Smoking” sign. It was on a plane that I noticed was fairly new in construction, and was probably a Canadair or Embraer Regional Jet. I say that because they are the most common planes I end up on, and the only ones that are ever newer than ancient.
Again, I won’t swear to this. But my fairly confident memory might serve as some anecdotal evidence.
That’s an interesting theory, although on at least two of the flights I was on we were told that we couldn’t use electronic devices for 10 minutes after takeoff and before landing – and were also given clearance by announcement when it was OK to do so. So it’s not like the minute you’re off the ground you can haul out your iPod.
This wouldn’t surprise me – I was kind of expecting people to say that new airplanes do indeed have these lights.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. I perform the passenger sign functional test on all new 737’s and I don’t need anymore lights to check. I’ll ask the engineer for interior lighting next time I see her if they have considered something like that. And it’s an FAA requirement that the no smoking and fasten seat belt signs be illuminated. It makes them easier to see in emergency situations that may result in reduce visability.
I don’t think you’d be checking any more lights than usual. In the plane I rode in, the “No Smoking” lights were replaced by “No Electronic Devices” lights.
I keep hearing that the FAA is going to allow cell phones on planes soon, and that the worry about their interfering with navigation systems is out of proportion to the danger, which is, apparently almost nil. I don’t know why that won’t also happen to hand held games and other electronic devices. Of course, I realize I’m taking this thread into new territory, and I invite anyone who wants to keep it on track to ignore this. xo C.
My understanding with cell phones has generally been that it’s not really a FAA problem but an FCC problem. That is, that using a cell phone at that height means that you can either hit several towers at once or that you’re moving so fast you’ll screw up the handoff between cells.
Well, I’d advocate replacing the no smoking light on domestic flights with a no electronic devices light, as other people have seen. Is the no smoking light illuminated because they want the extra light, or because in an emergency it’s very important that people continue to not smoke? Because I don’t see why no smoking needs a light anymore, given that it’s a ground rule for flying.
I was thinking along the same lines as Interrobang!?, in what sort of low-visibility emergency situations would you need to see those notices? If the cabin is filling with smoke or all the lights have gone out you can bet your ass people aren’t going to be paying attention to what a sign says. I imagine they would either be putting on their seatbelts as quick as possible or taking them off as quickly as possible, and nobody would be trying to smoke