V-Flyer

Can someone tell me why you are not supposed to take digital camera pics of take off and landing?
Is there something in digital cameras that interferes with the aircraft?
This forum and others certainly have pics of take offs and landings galore (I myself have taken plenty of these shots!)

They are digital! Electronic thus theoretically capable of emitting electro-magnetic radiation if a fault develops - interference that might compromise flight systems.

Not often much done if pax use them though.

Ok lets imagine your sat in your seat holding your camera and the plane comes to a sudden stop.

Due to shock and then the physical forces involved your camera flies from your hand and does a slow motion arc through the cabin eventually coming to a sudden stop after hitting someones skull.

Of course, YOU will be holding firmly onto your camera and with a wrist strap round your wrist to stop such an occurance but the chap 6 rows back might not be...

Have any actual tests been done with digital cameras and aircraft take offs and landings?
Yes I know that digital cameras are electronic devices but surely they are not as sophisicated as aircraft electronic systems and could stop them working? Is it just digital cameras then or all cameras?
I can see the health and safety point in camera holding but yes I actually do have the wrist strap on all the time!
It's a certain art/ technique to take those kind of pics from the air.....

i have taken pictures of takeoff and landing in the past (of course using the wrist strap ), when i flew to Paris on the A380 back in July the crew were certainly not doing anything about it as half the plane were doing the same thing.

the only issue i had was the bloke sat on my right leaning across to get pictures out of the window on my left

i cant see that a digital camera will have too much of an effect on any navigation systems as they do not normally have a send or receive function.

I would guess that no specific test would be done - little need. Almost any electronic circuit has the potential to oscillate and thus give off a signal - if it happens to be on the same frequency as a flight system there could be a problem.
Hence the blanket ban on ALL passenger electronic devices (PEDs) during the critical periods of take off and landing.

A good article by Peter Ladkinor a more technical article here will explain.

Cameras without electronics would be allowed - not many of them around nowadays

The only electronics allowed are hearing aids (very little battery energy available) and pacemakers (can't turn them off!).

A quick search on airliners.net (and even a couple on this site) shows plenty of pics on final descent taken from the flight deck - so that says to me there cant be much of a problem!

There are three ways of looking at this;
1) The theory of the camera/phone/ipod etc being thrown around the cabin in an emergency aborted take off (as mentioned above).
2) Also as above the electro magnetic interference, although to be honest any modern aircraft is designed to isolate aircraft systems from such interference.
3) Imagine there is some kind of incident or emergency, would the airline really want this to be recorded by camera/video, warts & all?

Denzil wrote:3) Imagine there is some kind of incident or emergency, would the airline really want this to be recorded by camera/video, warts & all?

Wasn't there some incident the other day at JFK where a plane landed on one wheel (or something similar) and it was filmed from within the aircraft by a passenger? You could see the sparks flashing past the window.

Yep! Just found the clip

Denzil wrote:3) Imagine there is some kind of incident or emergency, would the airline really want this to be recorded by camera/video, warts & all?

a quick google video search shows just that on a QF747 a coupple of years ago when a hole appeared in the side of the hold.
LINK HERE

honey lamb wrote:

Denzil wrote:3) Imagine there is some kind of incident or emergency, would the airline really want this to be recorded by camera/video, warts & all?

Wasn't there some incident the other day at JFK where a plane landed on one wheel (or something similar) and it was filmed from within the aircraft by a passenger? You could see the sparks flashing past the window.

link to CNN video article HERE

EDIT: sorry HL you edited your post as i posted this link

jwhite9185 wrote:A quick search on airliners.net (and even a couple on this site) shows plenty of pics on final descent taken from the flight deck - so that says to me there cant be much of a problem!

Indeed. I don't think the flight deck crew on any aircraft would risk using a digital camera on takeoff / final approach if they knew there was a definite chance it could affect the aircraft navigation systems.

Edited to add: I also used to work at a theme park (on one of the big rides). The only reason we used to stop the ride to remove camcorders / cameras / mobile phones off people was because the ride passed over the queueline, so the chance of them dropping the item onto someone else was high. The signs saying that cameras / mobile phones interfere with the ride were complete tosh. (Although mobiles on a plane in flight clearly = a big no-no).

James

Following take-off from BDL airport in a DC9 in July 1999, whilst climbing to cruising altitude, the captain’s radar altimeter gave an error message (‘flagged’) and the traffic and ground proximity alert systems subsequently showed ‘FAIL’. These three critical instrument malfunctions were independently verified by two other flight crew.

The problem continued throughout the climb to 35,000 feet when it became possible for a flight attendant to check the passenger cabin to see if any passenger portable electronic devices were in use. She discovered that a Video Walkman was in use in seat XX. After it was switched off, the problems cleared up.

Kraken wrote:
Edited to add: I also used to work at a theme park (on one of the big rides). The only reason we used to stop the ride to remove camcorders / cameras / mobile phones off people was because the ride passed over the queueline, so the chance of them dropping the item onto someone else was high. The signs saying that cameras / mobile phones interfere with the ride were complete tosh. (Although mobiles on a plane in flight clearly = a big no-no).

James

I'd say someone dropping something on the queue counts as interfering with the ride !

Some reports of PED problems in-flight.

No cameras in this selection but plenty with batteries & mobiles.

Going to stick with my "any modern aircraft is designed to isolate aircraft systems from such interference". By modern i'm talking A320 & onwards design. Communications interference as detailed in some of the reports is caused by the mobile scanning for a signal (so doesn't even need to be in use), just like if you leave it next to your tuner/radio at home.
I'd assume another reason, much the same as no IFE on landing/take-off, is that the crew have got your full attention.