Marj Lundquist sends the following ... with the question:
what prevents the same standards
set forth below from having application to the public's health elsewhere????
.....guru.....
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI)
July 21, 2000
Experts favor cell phone ban on planes, despite lack
of proof risk exists
ByJIM ABRAMS; Associated Press
Section: ANews
Edition: Final
Page: 08
Estimated Printed Pages: 2
Article Text:
Washington - There is no hard proof that cell phones and other
electronic devices pose safety risks on aircraft, but bans on their use
should continue as a precautionary measure, experts told Congress Thursday.
"We are preventing the extremely remote event," the Federal Aviation
Administration's Thomas McSweeny said at a House Transportation subcommittee
hearing.
Lawmakers said the public was confused about rules airlines impose
on the use of such portable electronic devices as cell phones, laptop computers,
hand-held games and pagers.
Rep. John Duncan (R-Tenn.), chairman of the aviation subcommittee,
said there were "lingering suspicions" that airlines ban cell phones so
passengers have to use their high-priced back-of-seat phones. He said cell-phone
bans were the second-biggest cause of "air rage" after drinking alcohol.
Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) also called airplane phones "unbelievably
expensive" and complained of their "really rotten service.
"We have to provide a viable alternative," he said.
Witnesses said that, while there had been anecdotal incidents
in which portable electronic devices might have interfered with aircraft
operations, they had never been able to repeat such interference under
controlled conditions.
Despite that lack of hard evidence, such interference "should
be viewed as potentially hazardous and the source of an unacceptable risk
to aircraft," said David Watrous, president of RTCA Inc., an advisory group
to the FAA that issued reports on electronic devices in 1963, 1988 and
1996.
McSweeny said among the concerns were that electronic devices
could cause errors in instrument landing or global positioning systems.
He noted that many hospitals prohibit cell phone use because they might
interfere with health monitoring devices.
The aviation industry now differentiates between intentional emitters
such as cell phones, two-connected electronic games and hand-held computers
that receive e-mail, which are designed to put out radio frequencies, and
unintentional emitters such as laptops or CD players.
In most cases, the first category is banned at all times during
a flight, and use of the weaker unintentional emitters is allowed when
the plane ascends above 10,000 feet.
Representatives of both the industry and airline pilots expressed
support for the existing standards. Paul McCarthy of the Air Line Pilots
Association said his group was opposed to any move to lessen current restrictions.
Dale Hatfield of the Federal Communications Commission said FCC
rules also prohibit cellular transmitter use on aircraft. He said the restriction
was not from the standpoint of protecting avionics systems but because
calls from above several cellular base stations prevent cell phones on
the ground from using the same frequency.
Copyright 2000 Journal Sentinel Inc.
Record Number: 2000072107596178 |