Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 10:48:00 From: "Robert L. Nuckolls, III" Subject: COZY: re: cell phones in aircraft > >I will be getting a copy of the FCC rules from him in the mail. If you >want a copy, e-mail me, and I will e-mail back with it attached. > >I said I WAS going to install it, no longer, and the fine is $10000. Cell phone frequencies are indeed allocated to land-mobile service only and it's an FCC issue, not an FAA one. Therefore, it's a vilolation of a regulation to use one from an airborne aircraft. Now, could you use one while on taxi from active to the ramp to call home, call for fuel, etc? Certainly. Just can't have daylight under the wheels. Would it be prudent to carry a hand held or have an installed cell phone for situations where it's use might mitigate lost of property, or worse yet, loss of life? Certainly. The FCC is like any other branch of government with inforcement responsabilities. The LIKELYHOOD that any single transgression of the rules will be (1) noticed, (2) complained about, (3) acted upon by an enforcer who already has too much on his plate is extremely small. Use of a cellphone in blatant, obvious and noticed disregard for the rules is inviting the wrath of government. Responsable use within the rules with occasional "transgressions" when warranted are most unlikely to bring you grief. Given the capabilities and growing coverage of cell phones and their technology, I'd not go flying without it (if I owned one). It's an issue similar to the ELT's that were once sold to hikers and backpackers . . . obviously not for the original intended purpose but if used only for the most obvious emergency situations, it's unlikely to get the user in hot water. Now, the REAL crime is the fact that a back-packer laying at the bottom of a drop with a broken leg thinks the calvary is going to come riding over the hill as soon as the switch is flipped on his little yellow box. I believe a recent AOPA article told us that ELTs yield their intended usefulness in less than 10% of aircraft accidents where an ELT is installed. But that's another problem . . . My best recommendation, trash your ELT and buy a cell phone. Now, if you wanted to INSTALL a cell phone in your certified ship, the FAA would have you drawn, sawed and quartered for not installing a TSO'ed model . . . it matters not how many lives might be saved. So use only HAND HELD devices in your certified iron, and don't plug it into the cigar lighter. In some FAA jurisdictions this is tantamount to an "installation". Bob . . . //// (o o) ===========o00o=(_)=o00o========= < If you do, > < What you've always done, > < You will be, > < What you've always been. > ================================= From: SWrightFLY@aol.com Date: Sun, 15 Feb 1998 09:47:30 EST Subject: Re: COZY: re: cell phones in aircraft In a message dated 98-02-14 11:55:07 EST, nuckolls@aeroelectric.com writes: << Would it be prudent to carry a hand held or have an installed cell phone for situations where it's use might mitigate lost of property, or worse yet, loss of life? Certainly. >> A friend flying a MINI-max (ultralight) crashed in the middle of a large field and was out of sight of anyone traveling on a near by road. With both legs broken, bleeding and unable to move he pulled out his cell phone and called 911. As the ambulance drove near by and he could hear it but they could not find him. He then was "patched thru" to the ambulance and directed the ambulance driver to where he was. The phone saved his life. I will not fly without a cell phone. Steve Wright Wright Alircraft Works LLC