Perils of mobile phones

False cockpit warnings Malfunctioning of aircraft systems Interference in pilots' headsets Distracting cabin crews from duties

The CAA bans the use of mobile phones from its flights once a plane's engines start running.

The Authority carried out the research on aircraft equipment certificated before December 1989 which has not previously been tested for immunity from interference from mobiles.

Equipment manufactured after 1989 has higher levels of immunity.

The Gatwick tests revealed that a plane's internal doors do not block mobile phone signals but that passengers in the path of the transmission did reduce the signal.

Prison penalty

Dan Hawkes, head of the avionics section of the CAA's safety regulation group said: "The tests showed that a mobile phone used near an aircraft's flight deck or avionics equipment bay will produce interference."

The CAA is now recommending that notices reminding passengers of the mobile phone ban are placed in airport departure lounges.

It also suggests airlines should be encouraged to look into installing mobile phone detection equipment which would warn crews if a phone was in use.

In June last year, Neil Whitehouse, of Mansfield, Notts, was sentenced to 12 months in prison after being found guilty of "recklessly and negligently" endangering a British Airways flight from Madrid to Manchester.

'I love you'

A Manchester Crown Court jury heard that Whitehouse, an oil worker, had repeatedly refused to switch off his phone after being spotted with it on the Boeing 737.

Experts said the plane's navigational systems could have been affected by radio waves from the phone even though no calls were made during the flight.

Whitehouse was asked by cabin crew to turn the mobile off after he was spotted typing "I love you" onto the text face.

When told it might interfere with navigation, he replied: "Why? Are we going to get lost?"

The judge hearing the case called for the ban on mobile phones on aircraft to be reiterated.