Cellphones on Airplanes

[Macross]

This is how it was explained to me, some cell phones operate on radio frequencies that overlap the radio frequencies used by navigation stations. So if an airplane is cruising along using these stations to navigate and a cellphone signal comes in that is the same as the navigation stations signal, the airplane's equipment would use the cell phone signal to determine its position... so the airplanes instruments are now reading false information, and that's when really bad things can happen.

[FSTargetDrone]

On the other hand, when I've flown and my instructor has had their cell phone on them, every so often it makes that tiki-tiki-tiki noise in my headset when the cellphone polling the tower. Now imagine a passenger plane full of people with cell phones. And then imagine them in international waters, far away from cell phone towers, so the cell phones increase the rate and power of their polling in an attempt to find a tower. I could see how that would be a problem.

This has nothing to do with aircraft, but incidentally, my latest cell phone seems to generate some interference that manifests itself as a sort of a quick, sharp but not loud series of tap-tap-tap sounds over our computers' speakers, our radio speakers (in our home and our car) and television speakers. Sometimes it's noticeable just before the cell phone rings, but it also does so at other, seemingly random times.

It's the first time I've noticed it among the 3 different cell phones I've used regularly.