x404.co.uk
http://www.x404.co.uk/forum/

Aircraft bomb finds may spell end for in-flight Wi-Fi
http://www.x404.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=11288		 Page 1 of 2
Author:  Amnesia10 [ Tue Nov 02, 2010 9:44 pm ]
Post subject:  Aircraft bomb finds may spell end for in-flight Wi-Fi
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn1 ... -wifi.html

Quote:
The long-awaited ability to use a cellphone or Wi-Fi connection on an aircraft might become a casualty of the latest aviation security threat.

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.

This comes as the aviation industry is gearing up to provide broadband in-flight entertainment systems that feature both cellphone and Wi-Fi connections for passengers. These systems would mean that passengers would no longer need to illicitly use their cellphones when they come into range of ground masts at low altitudes near airports – a potentially dangerous activity that could interfere with the aircraft's avionics.

That did not last long. :(
Author:  adidan [ Tue Nov 02, 2010 9:55 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Aircraft bomb finds may spell end for in-flight Wi-Fi
Can they put mobile phone jammers on the plane?
Author:  Amnesia10 [ Tue Nov 02, 2010 10:53 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Aircraft bomb finds may spell end for in-flight Wi-Fi
The problem is that passengers wanted to use their own phones. During the 9/11 hijacks the passengers on United 93 got details of the other crashes via their phones that enabled them to fight back. So it is a double edged sword. I am not sure what to make of it all really.
Author:  jonbwfc [ Tue Nov 02, 2010 10:55 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Aircraft bomb finds may spell end for in-flight Wi-Fi
adidan wrote:
Can they put mobile phone jammers on the plane?

Probably not without also jamming some things they need.

It's fatuous though. You don't need a wifi device to set a bomb off on a plane. Nobody was using wifi when PAM AM 103 got obliterated above Lockerbie. It's yet another case where the convenience of the many is being sacrificed to the paranoia of the few, and nobody is actually even asking the many if they think it's worth the risk or not. So now we have ludicrous things like the airlines insisting that it's not enough to have a phone in 'flight mode', it has to actually be switched off. The hands on my watch are causing more interference than my phone in flight mode, should I put my watch in a lead lined box? Which of course they won't let me take on the plane anyway, since their 'measure your knob' scanners can't see into it.

Jon
Author:  pcernie [ Tue Nov 02, 2010 11:24 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Aircraft bomb finds may spell end for in-flight Wi-Fi
Quote:
A cellphone connected to a detonation circuit could have allowed a terrorist to trigger an explosion by calling or texting the phone.


'Disaster was narrowly averted today when a mobile phone detonator turned out to be on the 3 network...'

I think the Real IRA (at least) have used/tried the above tactic a few times.

Imagine the bomber has just activated the phone and gets the usual 'Welcome to...' text :lol:

And O2 are so text happy you wouldn't even consider them in that situation :oops:
Author:  JJW009 [ Wed Nov 03, 2010 1:15 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Aircraft bomb finds may spell end for in-flight Wi-Fi
pcernie wrote:
Imagine the bomber has just activated the phone and gets the usual 'Welcome to...' text :lol:

LMAO I never thought of that. Next time, I'll set the phone to vibrate only if certain numbers call it :lol:
Author:  big_D [ Wed Nov 03, 2010 4:51 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Aircraft bomb finds may spell end for in-flight Wi-Fi
The scare mongerers screwed up royally in setting up this story, the package allegedly came from Yemen, but as the Yemeni authorities and FedEx pounted out, they don't actually fly a parcel service out of Yemen... :?

I'm happy when the phones won't work on a plane, but banning mobiles won't help, they could have used the phone as a timer, or they could go back to a plain timer or a pressure bomb, going off when the plane reaches a certain altitude... Mobilephones are a red herring, the story is just designed to scare people.

We should stick with the train, shouldn't we Heather? :lol:
Author:  HeatherKay [ Wed Nov 03, 2010 9:24 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Aircraft bomb finds may spell end for in-flight Wi-Fi
big_D wrote:
We should stick with the train, shouldn't we Heather? :lol:


Totally. :lol: 8-)
Author:  belchingmatt [ Wed Nov 03, 2010 8:41 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Aircraft bomb finds may spell end for in-flight Wi-Fi
Fly naked, it's the only way to be sure. :P

I'm happy without mobiles on planes anyway, screaming children are bad enough without lots of half conversations around.
Author:  l3v1ck [ Thu Nov 04, 2010 10:00 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Aircraft bomb finds may spell end for in-flight Wi-Fi
Screw security. They should ban phones on planes to make it more plesant for other people. It's not like a train where you can get up and moves seats whenever you want.
Maybe they could do something like the quiet carriage on a trai? The back half of the plane has a ban on phones, the front doesn't.
Author:  ProfessorF [ Thu Nov 04, 2010 10:14 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Aircraft bomb finds may spell end for in-flight Wi-Fi
I've never been on a flight where someone's made a phone call.
I'm by no means a regular flier - I think the last time would've been 4 years ago, only across to Amsterdam and back for work. Before that was Italy and back.
But I've never heard anyone make a phone call. Is it really so common as to be a nuisance?
Author:  HeatherKay [ Thu Nov 04, 2010 10:26 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Aircraft bomb finds may spell end for in-flight Wi-Fi
They should make people who want to make a phone call go outside.
Author:  Amnesia10 [ Thu Nov 04, 2010 11:16 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Aircraft bomb finds may spell end for in-flight Wi-Fi
HeatherKay wrote:
They should make people who want to make a phone call go outside.

Along with the smokers? ;)
Author:  HeatherKay [ Thu Nov 04, 2010 11:17 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Aircraft bomb finds may spell end for in-flight Wi-Fi
Perhaps that's what happened to the Qantas A380. Someone out on the wing making a call, and dropped their phone...
Author:  Amnesia10 [ Thu Nov 04, 2010 12:19 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Aircraft bomb finds may spell end for in-flight Wi-Fi
HeatherKay wrote:
Perhaps that's what happened to the Qantas A380. Someone out on the wing making a call, and dropped their phone...

Maybe it was suicide pigeons who were radicalised and trained to fly into jet engines? :shock:
Page 1 of 2 All times are UTC
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group
https://www.phpbb.com/