Actually a colleague of mine has seen cases of EMI from cellular phones in particular:
- radio interference (imagine what effect would be on Datalink / CPDLC if it is audible on voice channels)
- cargo door open indication
- other effects I either can't remember or discuss in a public forum
Quite a nuisance when you're doing an EMI test and someone has left their cellular phone on.
WiFi on the other hand is quite benign.
One other consideration is the fact that while modern aircraft are well protected given requirement to meet HIRF criteria, older airplanes are more susceptible. Also consider that modern refers to certification basis and not age since airplanes like the B737 have a very old certification basis!
Cheers
Two things:
(1) This is completely separate from blocking real time or near real time tracking of flights - there are legitimate security and privacy concerns that may prompt an individual or corporation from wanting the movements of their aircraft tracked - I don't expect that anyone posting here would want all of their automobile trips made publicly available to any person for any reason - same thing except that for aircraft movements the ATC agencies (ie government) will have the records regardless of whether or not they are public
(2) Just speculating (as a professional in the aviation business I sometimes rely on these very same records of incidents and occurances to identify safety issues), but perhaps the motivation for not making the records public is to encourage more reporting - without the reports the regulator can't properly perform oversight of the airlines and OEMs and if individuals or companies are discouraged from reporting by the fact that the records will be pub
