The risk posed to commercial air travel by onboard portable electronic devices (PEDs) was explored.; Anecdotal evidence of PED interference was examined. Two aviation accident case studies and incident reports from the Aviation Safety Reporting System database indicated strong circumstantial evidence of PED interference.; Existing data sets were quantitatively analyzed. A bounding analysis implied that PED interference is a causal factor in less than 6.5% of all aviation accidents. Laptops and cellular phones interfering with ILS and VOR systems are the most promising areas for research. An occurrence rate for PED interference was estimated at 23 incidents per year and using previous work in industrial safety implies an appreciable accident rate.; A survey indicated that passengers are not aware of the reasons for the in-flight PED policies and they doubt that safety is an issue.; A Federal Aviation Administration sponsored program to perform in-flight RF spectrum measurements in the cabins of commercial revenue flights is described. The aviation critical frequency bands monitored were: VOR and ILS Localizer, ILS Glide Slope, DME and WAS, and L1 and L2 GPS. The personal electronics frequency bands monitored were: cellular uplink, Personal Communications System (PCS) uplink, and 900 MHz and 2.4 GHz ISM.; Measurements were made on 38 flights involving Boeing 737 and Airbus 320 aircraft in 2003. Two airlines participated in the flight study. All flights occurred in the Eastern U.S. and were less than 2 hours in duration.; A total of 4,445 in-flight spectrum traces representing over 32 hours of data were collected. The measurements provided the first reported characterization of the in-flight RF environment of scheduled revenue commercial airline flights. The key findings were that: onboard cellular activity is appreciable including an estimated 1--4 calls per flight, signal activity was observed that could interfere with aircraft GPS equipment, and passenger electronics use is occurring at prohibited times.; A policy prescription is advanced that includes centralized research, a standing oversight committee, and monitoring tools. The dissertation asserts that limiting passenger electronics use should continue and is the only method available to ensure the near-term safety of the flying public.
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