The tense security climate that airlines worldwide currently operate in is now bringing an unexpected technical challenge for both passengers and staff, as Japanese carriers have been finding out recently.
At the root of the problem is a new breed of mobile phones that can稚 easily be switched off which are designed specifically for children. Airlines, which all have a long-ignored safety policy of banning active phones from their cabins, have increasingly been finding that kids・phones have a tendency to spring back to life in mid-flight. Although evidence that this is actually a problem seems not to exist, we can trust the airlines to get all worked up.
The reanimation feature of many handsets, such as those sold by market leader DoCoMo, is intended to protect children in an increasingly crime-aware Japan. Such phones regularly 祖heck in・automatically using GPS or location-based email to inform parents of the their children痴 whereabouts.
To keep the safety net in place manufacturers have made it impossible for kids ・or anyone else ・to switch the phones off without inputting a passcode. Moreover, the phones also have batteries that can稚 be removed without a special key.
As a result, Japanese airlines now display prominent warnings and advice on how to make sure such safety phones really are off. In the case of passengers who can稚 remember their passcodes, companies like ANA and JAL have also armed their staff with the tools for cracking the phones open and ripping out their batteries. Perhaps such a hard-line approach will jog a few memories next time round.
Imadoco search message: Your child is currently over Nagasaki hurtling towards the ground at 1,112 kilometres an hour . . . thanks to this complimentary service. Have a nice day.
BTW I hope no one tells the terrorists that they don't need bombs anymore - apparently all they need to bring down a passenger plane is a mobile phone and a propensity for disobeying trolley dollies !
