Posted on 05/27/2005 11:50:32 PM PDT by El Conservador
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Allowing airline passengers to use personal cell phones during flights could help potential hijackers coordinate an attack or trigger a bomb smuggled on board, U.S. security officials have told regulators.
The U.S. Justice Department, Department of Homeland Security and Federal Bureau of Investigation late on Thursday outlined the potential dangers associated with allowing cell phone use during plane flights, as the Federal Communications Commission has proposed if safety issues can be resolved.
The Federal Aviation Administration would also have to approve any rule change.
At present personal cell phones and other communication devices must be switched off at takeoff, landing and for the duration of commercial flights because it could potentially interfere with the operation of the plane.
While some have told the FCC they worry about an increase in loud, irritating chatter on flights, law enforcement officials were focused on preventing a possible attack.
"The uniqueness of service to and from an aircraft in flight presents the possibility that terrorists and other criminals could use air-to-ground communications systems to coordinate an attack," they said in comments to the FCC.
During Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, passengers and crew on the hijacked planes used cell phones as well as phones embedded in the seats to call for help and talk to loved ones.
If the cell phone ban were lifted, law enforcement authorities worry an attacker could use the device to coordinate with accomplices on the ground, on another flight or seated elsewhere on the same plane.
If wireless phones are to be allowed in-flight, the law enforcement agencies urged that users be required to register their location on a plane before placing a call and that officials have fast access to call identification data.
"There is a short window of opportunity in which action can be taken to thwart a suicidal terrorist hijacking or remedy other crisis situations on board an aircraft," the agencies said in the comments.
The security officials also worried that personal phone use could increase the risk of a remotely-controlled bomb being used to bring down an airliner. But they acknowledged simple radio-controlled explosive devices have been used in the past on planes and the first line of defense was security checks at airports.
Still, "the departments believe that the new possibilities generated by airborne passenger connectivity must be recognized," they said.
MORE AIR RAGE?
In other filings with FCC, several flight attendants worried that allowing cell phones to be used on planes could make their jobs harder during an emergency and lead to further cases of air rage by passengers.
"The introduction of cell phone use in the cabin will not only increase tension among passengers, it will compromise flight attendants' ability to maintain order in an emergency," said American Airlines flight attendant Joyce Berngard.
The possibility of air rage incidents also raised concerns among law enforcement who feared that it could complicate the job of armed air marshals disguised as passengers who are deployed on thousands of U.S. airline flights each week.
"The first and overriding priority of federal law enforcement on board aircraft is to ensure the safety of the aircraft and the flight," the law enforcement officials said.
I doubt it. There is too much money involved for it to get much worse.
As soon as passengers start balking at all these new regs and privacy invasions it will all change. The airlines can't tollerate 2 back to back months of no revenue. That is all it would take to bankrupt them. And they are such a big part of the economy that you would have the Government pleading with you to fly again - just like they did after 9/11.
It will get worse only till people stopt making stupid jokes about flying nude, and getting mad enough to stop buying tickets.
Why didn't the 9/11 calls get mired in that problem?
I couldn't see the FAA allowing it in the air, however, without exhaustive and scrupulous tests to preclude interference with the navigation electronics. What if a phone malfunctions and transmits on high anyhow? What if someone tries to use a phone that uses a different protocol than the plane's tower?
There are two misconceptions evident in your post.
First, cell traffic on planes will be handled by an IN-PLANE cell transmitter. No one will be talking driectly to the ground. That In-plance cell processor could do as you suggest and not allow inbound calls, or perhaps not allow in-bound calls from other air-craft.
Second: the first thing that failed in 9/11 was cell systems in NYC, because so many companies had transmitters on the WTC, and even before they colappesed the transmission cables to those antennas were cut. In a WIDESPREAD emergency Cell phones become un reliable real fast.
Why one would willingly fly any more completely escapes me.
Its already been tested, and its ready for production. Its already available in some countries and in private jets.
There are only two widely used protocalls in the US. The plan is that these in-plane cell systems will answer to every company's ID, so your phone will be locked into the planes transmitter. If you knew enough about your phone, and your carrier's tower system, you might be able to program your phone to avoid the in-plane system, just like you can program your cell phone to never roam if you want to and have the knowledge.
Huh, I thought he meant the calls from the hijacked planes.
The last fellow in the link was parked just across Virginia 110 with a GPS device. He didn't realize that he was giving the guys on the plane erroneous information concerning the precise location of the Pentagon with the result that the plane hit the ground far short of the building.
They used cellphones to communicate the information.
Somtimes you just don't have the time to do anything else.
Cell phones are the number one triggering device for road side bombs in Iraq. So much so, that some convoys carry cell jammers on the lead vehicles.
Cell phones were used in the Madrid bombings too. Anyone with a soldering iron can turn a cell phone into a trigger device.
A cell phone triggered bomb in a piece of luggage is a nightmare to detect. I'm amazed it hasn't been tried yet.
Isn't the Pentagon big enough that the plane could have only hit one wall of it, even if it had gone down right in the area in the center?
Uh, sources please.
Fascinating.
I have not seen that.
Could you link a source?
The phone might be difficult to distinguish from normal, but what about the stuff-that-goes-boom? Doesn't that show when the luggage is scanned?
Something to do while not eating pretzels on NWA. NLOL
SOURCES!?!
It astounds me that you would think anything that elaborate would be needed. You can see the pentigon from 25 miles away.
I spoze there were guys stationed on the brooklyn bridge guiding the other planes to the WTC.
I certainly hope so, but I doubt more than a small percentage actually is scanned.
It does sound a bit odd... another thing is why is the guy on the ground telling the hijackers the GPS location of the Pentagon? The hijackers would have known that already. And even if not, what is a good hijacker (pardon the term) to conclude when he sees that his guys-on-the-ground are steer his missile towards such an obvious target? Did they think that somehow Allah was going to get them if they didn't crash the jet a wee bit short of the Great Satan's military nerve center?
I flew from Chicago O'Hare a few months ago; the TSA guys were sticking their shiny little stickers on luggage at that time, and I saw the passenger luggage queued up for the X-ray machine (or maybe machines) in a large section of what used to be a passenger ticketing area.
Everything that went on with the Pentagon attack was not as well reported outside of the DC area as the New York thing with the WTC.
Given some time I think I could dig back over the last three years worth of news to find that particular item about the fellow in the taxicab with the GPS.
Most of the AlQaida ground support team for the Pentagon event actually lived in several townhouses they'd rented at the Grandview subdivision in Springfield. There were regularly 75+ taxicabs parked there right up until 9/11. After the attack, they went down to 15 taxicabs.
Various federal agencies spent many months patroling this area closely and were constantly questioning people. Many were arrested, some prosecuted (see the Paintball guys). There are 5 mosques within walking distance.
Lots of folks have the mistaken idea that all these hijackers had to do was fly the planes. The analysts supporting AlQaida knew very well that as the planes got closer to the ground the "clutter" would blind them to where they were really going and they could miss their targets. This could be overcome if and only if they had a ground support team in place.
It's quite possible a similar method was used in New York although the WTC did stick up above the other buildings in that target rich environment. DC, on the other hand, has few tall buildings, is very spread out, and pretty much looks the same everywhere from the air. The two planes scheduled to attack us definitely required support.
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