Me no Leica.
July 19, 2010 12:07 PM Subscribe
Lots of business flights recently and a very curious new rule on the last three of them...
I was in St. John's, Newfoundland a week ago for work. Flying home to Toronto on Porter (via Halifax and Ottawa), I was puzzled by the list of Things You Cannot Do On A Plane now expanding to usage of cameras. Cameras were explictly forbidden in the safety lecture at the beginning of each flight. Indeed, when partway through one flight that couple sitting in front of me pulled out a camera and the girl grabbed a quick snapshot of the guy, they received a sternly-worded rebuke over the PA system. What gives? I fly dozens of times a year and in fact flew east on the same routes a week earlier and I have never heard of this restriction before last week, but on all three flights west the camera thing came up. Is this a new doofus security theatre thing I missed?
I was in St. John's, Newfoundland a week ago for work. Flying home to Toronto on Porter (via Halifax and Ottawa), I was puzzled by the list of Things You Cannot Do On A Plane now expanding to usage of cameras. Cameras were explictly forbidden in the safety lecture at the beginning of each flight. Indeed, when partway through one flight that couple sitting in front of me pulled out a camera and the girl grabbed a quick snapshot of the guy, they received a sternly-worded rebuke over the PA system. What gives? I fly dozens of times a year and in fact flew east on the same routes a week earlier and I have never heard of this restriction before last week, but on all three flights west the camera thing came up. Is this a new doofus security theatre thing I missed?
Oh sorry, I didn't realize Porter was an airline.
One possibility could be that Queen Elizabeth II was flying on Porter during her recent visit. That may have called for increased security restrictions.
posted by smackfu at 12:21 PM on July 19, 2010
One possibility could be that Queen Elizabeth II was flying on Porter during her recent visit. That may have called for increased security restrictions.
posted by smackfu at 12:21 PM on July 19, 2010
This comes up on airliners.net from time to time. The consensus seems to be that there's of course a rule against using cameras (and other electronic devices) below certain altitudes (10k feet for Southwest and Delta, for example) or during takeoff and landing, and some airlines forbid cameras generally because they are potentially dangerous during turbulence. Security does not seem to be the issue.
posted by jedicus at 12:32 PM on July 19, 2010
posted by jedicus at 12:32 PM on July 19, 2010
Maybe the concern is that you'll inadvertently take a picture of air security personnel.
posted by SillyShepherd at 12:40 PM on July 19, 2010
posted by SillyShepherd at 12:40 PM on July 19, 2010
They're prohibited, along with all other electronic devices, under 10,000 feet of altitude. There are no laws against photography during the cruise, and flight assistants generally cannot just make up and enforce arbitrary rules and regulations.
posted by halogen at 12:43 PM on July 19, 2010
posted by halogen at 12:43 PM on July 19, 2010
I've been yelled at for taking pictures on the tarmac, before boarding.
posted by me & my monkey at 12:57 PM on July 19, 2010
posted by me & my monkey at 12:57 PM on July 19, 2010
The concern is electromagnetic interference (EMI) from the flash which can affect the avionics instruments of the airplane. Traditional cameras use a flash tube which is activated by a high voltage, high current spike that lasts a few milliseconds -- hundreds of volts and hundreds of amps for that short duration. This large, short energy spike causes a large electromagnetic noise transient.
Newer cameras and phone cameras use LED flash units which consume less than one amp but last longer, about 100 milliseconds. The LED flash is of lower brightness but longer duration which produces the same total light as the flash tube, but smooths out the energy discharge over a longer time producing much less electromagnetic interference.
The flight attendant has no idea whether you have the older high EMI flash tube or newer low EMI LED flash or even whether the flash will be activated so they ban all camera use.
posted by JackFlash at 4:28 PM on July 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
Newer cameras and phone cameras use LED flash units which consume less than one amp but last longer, about 100 milliseconds. The LED flash is of lower brightness but longer duration which produces the same total light as the flash tube, but smooths out the energy discharge over a longer time producing much less electromagnetic interference.
The flight attendant has no idea whether you have the older high EMI flash tube or newer low EMI LED flash or even whether the flash will be activated so they ban all camera use.
posted by JackFlash at 4:28 PM on July 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
From personal experience, I can tell you that my camera (with a zoom and autofocus, it's using either of these that causes the problem) will disrupt a nearby UHF radio, causing it to broadcast static. That said, in my case moving the radio from the breast pocket to the back pocket stopped it BUT I never experimented with finding the range at which it was affected when there was line-of-sight between the camera and the radio.
posted by Lebannen at 4:52 PM on July 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Lebannen at 4:52 PM on July 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: The flight attendant has no idea whether you have the older high EMI flash tube or newer low EMI LED flash or even whether the flash will be activated so they ban all camera use.
By the way, a flight from Vancouver to Kelowna this weekend had attendants telling passengers that the views of the Rockies were great and encouraging them to take photos.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:08 AM on December 8, 2010
By the way, a flight from Vancouver to Kelowna this weekend had attendants telling passengers that the views of the Rockies were great and encouraging them to take photos.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:08 AM on December 8, 2010
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posted by Mertonian at 12:13 PM on July 19, 2010