Hold that in-flight call

Carnegie Mellon University engineers writing in the IEEE Spectrum have tossed cold water on the notion that cell phone use on commercial airline flights are an idea whose time has come. According to this Knight Ridder story, these researchers have concluded that cell phones, laptops and other devices actually cause more disruption to key aviation technology — GPS systems, in particular — than was previously believed.

The researchers also discovered that many an airline passenger cares little about any of these egghead scientists trying to scare the pants off people: They’ve got important calls to make, and gosh-darn-it, they’re going to make them. Despite the fact that it’s illegal, between one and four cell phone calls are being made on every flight, according to the Carnegie Mellon team

Remember this research next time you’re sitting beside someone sneaking in a quick call.