Cell Phones on Airplanes: a Disaster Waiting to Happen? Cell Antenna Corp. CEO Warns of Terrorist Threats
12 January 2005 14:44
Technology expert has devised a plan to help protect Americans if a cell phone bombing occurred on US soil and urges all citizens to rally Congress to implement this plan into action.
As the FCC ponders allowing the use of cell phones on airplanes and the public debates about the additional cabin noise this will cause, a much greater threat looms. Howard Melamed, CEO of Cell Antenna Corporation and a noted cellular expert, warns that the public is unaware of the dangers that the use of cell phones on airplanes can pose.
“All cell phones pose a threat, as they can easily be implemented as detonation devices,” Mr Melamed states. “It’s not just about cell phones on airplanes, it’s about large public areas such as airports, sports arenas, public buildings and gathering places. I want to inform the public of the potential dangers that are very real. Now is the time for the American people to rally Congress on this issue,” Melamed went on to say.
The number of cell phone bombings has risen in the last two years, including an October 2002 attack in Bali where 202 people were killed by a cell phone triggered bombing, and most recently in March 2004, when more than 200 people were killed on the Madrid train as a result of cell phone triggered bombs. Cell phones have been the triggering devices of choice for terrorists in Iraq. There are also numerous unreported instances in the United States where bomb squad personnel have indicated possible cell phone detonations.
Currently, there is no plan in place by government officials that can be enabled if a cell phone bomb was to be detonated in the US. However, Mr Melamed has indicated that there is a simple plan that officials can follow to help control the enormous destruction should terrorists start to detonate cell phone bombs in this country.
1) First and foremost, police departments throughout the US need to know where the cell phone towers are in their communities and how to turn them off. There needs to be a coordinated effort between local law enforcement, cellular carriers and private owners of cellular towers. This way, if one cell phone was to go off in an area, additional cell phone bombs would be immediately silenced. Should a device be discovered prior to detonation, then shutting the towers in the immediate area will prevent harm for bomb squad personnel involved in its deactivation.
2) There should be a ban on the use of cell phones on all domestic and international airline flights. This will eliminate the threat of a terrorist bringing down an airplane by a cell phone bomb.
3) The American public needs to be aware of these issues and needs to get the government involved. Until now, the discussion that cell phones can easily be transformed into bombs has been hushed up. Officials may know about it, but there is nothing being done on a national level.
According to Mr Melamed, the reasons why a cell phone is a prime tool for the terrorist include:
- Cell phones are concealable and very common
- The battery is of sufficient power to provide the energy needed in a detonation
- They are atomically synchronized giving a level of precision never before realized
- They are addressable allowing the terrorist the opportunity to only set off the cell phone when calling from only his cell phone
- The Litiumlon battery used in a cell phone in itself can be turned into a bomb
- They can be easily delivered anywhere in the world
(The above represents only some of the aspects that make the cell phone a choice weapon for the terrorist.)
According to the CTIA, there are more than 167 million cell phone users in the US alone.
Melamed states: “I am certainly not saying to eliminate cell phones. That would be insane. I use my cell phone for personal and business use each and every day. But let’s keep cellular use safe and smart. Allowing the use of a cell phone on an airplane is a call to the terrorist.”
Cell Antenna Corporation offers several solutions to this very real threat. Among these, cellular jamming devices that jam cell phone signals in vulnerable areas, a device that only the government can legally operate.
For more information on this company:
CellAntenna Corporation - Solutions for Poor Inbuilding Cellular Coverage
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