Obviously, my answer is NO. But it’s not like the TSA takes my opinions to heart…
Here’s the latest buzz: mobile phones and Wi-Fi may be used to blow up an airplane, so the TSA is considering banning them.
It was revealed on 29 October that parcels containing a powdered explosive packed in laser printer cartridges had travelled undetected on aircraft to the UK and to Dubai in the UAE. A cellphone connected to a detonation circuit could have allowed a terrorist to trigger an explosion by calling or texting the phone.
We know that the TSA is a reactionary agency and we must concede that a cell phone, in the context described above, does pose some threat to passenger safety. We must also concede that wireless internet technology may make the detonation of an explosive device onboard an aircraft easier.
That leads me to the glum conclusion that despite the tremendous investment airlines have made in inflight internet, the TSA will ban wireless communications onboard aircraft, perhaps as soon as by the end of the year.
The sad thing is that there remain countless ways of coordinating an attack without using a mobile phone. Banning mobile phones and Wi-Fi will prevent one mode of potential attack, yet hardly foreclose the ability of a critical thinker to find another way to bring a plane down.
Once again, we’re faced with a cost-benefit analysis that pits safety against freedom and in this case, economics. A balancing test is appropriate, but banning mobile phones is out of the question and even with a ban against in-flight cell phone usage, as we are all aware, you can still occasionally pick up a cell phone signal if you are traveling low enough. Mission accomplished.
I sure hope I’m wrong, but who’s going to argue that news of such a ban would be a surprise? With economics at stake this time (rather than just civil liberties), maybe this proposal won’t get past the drawing board. But I doubt it…
I’m of two minds. No, the TSA should not ban these, as they both have very legitimate uses. However, I would support a ban on cellphones as passengers are a captive audience and can’t just get up to get away from someone being obnoxious on their cellphone, and a flat out ban on use in the plane makes enforcement easier, as I have seen many people defy flight attendants instructions in regards to their devices.
Maybe I’m missing something here but wouldn’t the threat be from phones attached to explosives in the cargo area? I’m not sure how having a phone on your person is a threat. If they ban carrying the phone on the plane, the phone would have to be checked in baggage and doesn’t that sort of defeat the purpose? And say phones are banned, would you then be forced to check your phone in luggage? I almost never check bags so now just to bring my phone with me on travel I’ll be required to check a bag or not travel with my phone at all? I just don’t see how this is going to fly.
Banning inflight Internet access would raise security theatre to the level of actually interfering with airlines making money, and that’s just not going to happen. Further, there’s no way the TSA could forbid passengers from carrying their cell phones on board. Tell us to turn them off? Sure. But tell us we can’t carry them? Considering how often luggage snafus occur, and how reliant business travelers are on their phones, it’s just not an option.
Air security would be much higher if neither human beings nor cargo could travel by plane, since both are risks to aviation security. While it would be absurd to ban either, many people would not be surprised if the TSA came out with such a policy. It’s unfortunate but the TSA has become such a joke that you can’t rule anything out for them.
Looks like you were wrong