Airplane Mode

[Billy Harvey]

> How can a passive *receiver* interfere with the on board electronics? I can't think of one, and I'm a EE major :)
>
> regards,
>
> Koen

>From leakage of the local oscillator injection.  Even a capacitor
leaks electrical energy.  My cheap non-OEM laptop memory leaks energy
at an audio frequency even.

Having non-aircraft-required electronics turned off during the takeoff
and landing phase of an passenger carrying aircraft is simply the
easiest and safest way to insure that there is no possible
interference from non-tested-and-certified electronics devices during
the most critical phases of flight.  There was an airliner that
crashed during an approach to landing in thick fog some years ago in
South America that may have been due to cell phone interference.  Such
a "bad thing" in unlikely, but Murphy's Law always applies -
especially in aviation.

Billy