Cell phones on aircraft

[Waveoff]

I'm just curious where other platforms stand on the policy, and your opinions on cell phones on planes.

Currently for the P-8: on standard mission flights beginning and ending at the same airfield (TAC flight), cell phones are not allowed onboard the aircraft period end, even if faraday bags are available. If you are doing a repo, all devices must be in faraday bags. If you are doing a repo but a mission along the way (TACREPO), you ARE allowed to have phones onboard, but they must be in a faraday bag.

This is a relatively new policy of about a year or so. Everyone I talk to sees a potential issue arising when it comes to diverting. In my opinion, I understand for COMSEC reasons why phones are not allowed onboard but it seems a little wonky that phones on a TACREPO are authorized, but not on a regular TAC flight. Based on the instruction from group, there is no apparent possibility of exceptions or waivers.

How is it for other platforms? I'm not expecting an answer from VQ folks...

 

[robav8r]

There used to be a time when you diverted/landed and walked to baseops and called whoever you had to call. Convenience & technology doesn’t equal necessity.

end old guy rant . . .

 

[wlawr005]

Gsuit pocket. Every flight, no matter what.

 

[HAL Pilot]

How hard is it to have a lockable box on board that every puts their phone in prior to a mission?

 

[OscarMyers]

How hard is it to have a lockable box on board that every puts their phone in prior to a mission?

So the the wing directed no phones in the E-2D, and my fleet squadron had a faraday bag in the ADB that the crew would walk to the plane with. My argument against having a single bag/drawer was always that your cell phone is the quickest way to getting recovered CONUS if you had to bailout or had the luck of walking away from some wreckage. I purchased my own faraday bag and carried my phone with me.

 

[scoolbubba]

How hard is it to have a lockable box on board that every puts their phone in prior to a mission?

it's not, and it's been done on way more important missions than whatever fuckery a slick p-8 is doing.

 

[HeartofTexas]

E-6B here. Phones, smart watches, etc... aren't allowed in the middle of the jet where the Commies are (secret squirrel shit and all), but the Reels and front end (Pilots and FEs) usually have their phones in their spaces in a bag or box. No Bluetooth speakers allowed anywhere, though I have seen a few tech-savvy guys hook up an unclass laptop to get YouTube or Spotify up, route it through the audio jackfield, and play it over ICS. When we get battlestaff onboard, all phones, smart gadgets get placed in the phone box in the back of jet. It seems pretty lax, but taking any pictures inside the jet is a sure fire way to get lit the fuck up. Though I've heard from some older crewmen that back about 8-10 years ago, they wouldn't even allow phones to be brought on "deployments" (we call 'em deployments but it's more like a TDY every other month)

I'm definitely surprised to hear that P-8s have that strict of a phone policy. I've definitely had more than a fair share of flights end in an unexpected divert (even if it's a "local" or routine, always bring a small overnight bag) and I couldn't imagine no one having a cellphone with them. I'm assuming you guys get issued a few flip phones or something to call back in case things go unexpected?

 

[robav8r]

So the the wing directed no phones in the E-2D, and my fleet squadron had a faraday bag in the ADB that the crew would walk to the plane with. My argument against having a single bag/drawer was always that your cell phone is the quickest way to getting recovered CONUS if you had to bailout or had the luck of walking away from some wreckage. I purchased my own faraday bag and carried my phone with me.

Where did you get your faraday bag and how much?

 

[OscarMyers]

Where did you get your faraday bag and how much?

I got this one. $23 on Amazon and it fits my Iphone X. Its a good size to fit in the leg pocket on my flight suit.

 

[Waveoff]

Our policy isn’t just phones actually. It’s all data storing or wireless enabled devices. So even when we repo we have to put everything you can imagine in faraday bags to include portable hard drives, wireless headphones, video games (because they have WiFi), etc.

Whenever a whole squadron moves out for deployment, basically everyone puts their stuff on the NALO flights because we don’t have enough bags to go around on the bird.

Is this current SOP in good intention? Probably. But I do wonder how it will change throughout time as the appropriate entities do studies and research. Or you get someone in a position of authority who wants to change it.

 

[Waveoff]

E-6B here. Phones, smart watches, etc... aren't allowed in the middle of the jet where the Commies are (secret squirrel shit and all), but the Reels and front end (Pilots and FEs) usually have their phones in their spaces in a bag or box. No Bluetooth speakers allowed anywhere, though I have seen a few tech-savvy guys hook up an unclass laptop to get YouTube or Spotify up, route it through the audio jackfield, and play it over ICS. When we get battlestaff onboard, all phones, smart gadgets get placed in the phone box in the back of jet. It seems pretty lax, but taking any pictures inside the jet is a sure fire way to get lit the fuck up. Though I've heard from some older crewmen that back about 8-10 years ago, they wouldn't even allow phones to be brought on "deployments" (we call 'em deployments but it's more like a TDY every other month)

I'm definitely surprised to hear that P-8s have that strict of a phone policy. I've definitely had more than a fair share of flights end in an unexpected divert (even if it's a "local" or routine, always bring a small overnight bag) and I couldn't imagine no one having a cellphone with them. I'm assuming you guys get issued a few flip phones or something to call back in case things go unexpected?

That’s a negative. As of right now, I have gone a full deployment on this policy with no one being issued an approved government phone. So if we land somewhere else, we have to find a landline and figure it out old school style.

 

[Jim123]

So if we land somewhere else, we have to find a landline and figure it out old school style.

Be sure to use your government travel credit card.

 

[Waveoff]

Be sure to use your government travel credit card.

Since we are working at government speed, maybe we’ll be allowed a cell phone with Cingular wireless

 

[Hair Warrior]

There’s really no good way to have phones onboard and be risk free. You might be in a situation where no one is watching and it doesn’t matter. You might be in a situation where it does matter (life and death). And a phone today might betray thing X that does not matter today but that “old” data from today might matter and be retrievable Y years in the future, and you can never un-emit that data.

 

[OscarMyers]

Its a policy that is based in good reasoning, but being executed poorly. Even to the point that makes having any kind of E-pubs or EFB in the airplane difficult. I wont pretend to understand all the challenges that go along with this, but being on the end of the whip with the blanket ban on electronics has always seemed a bit of CYA with no real critical thought of how to smartly execute it. And oh by the way if its not correctly implemented, chances are pretty good that people aren't going to follow it.