Banana Skins – May 2022 (#378-382)

Navigation and control instruments can be caused to malfunction. During the approach of an Alitalia aircraft at Turin airport on 31 December, 1995, one of the 160 passengers onboard switched on his mobile phone, thus blocking the plane’s autopilot system.

Banana Skins – March 2022 (#365-377)

Is it safe to use cellphones on airplanes? The real question should be: “Is it safe for passengers to use any electronic equipment on airplanes?”

Banana Skins – January 2022 (#358-364)

Operating my personal document shredder crashes my digital TV set-top box, although it is 5 metres away. Toggling the on/off button on the set-top box restores normal operation. 

Banana Skins – July 2021 (#342-346)

Major news outlets in the Philadelphia metropolitan area report that the head of the city’s Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) has called on city officials to replace the two-and-a-half year old Motorola police radio system because of repeated communications failures.

Banana Skins – May 2021 (#330-332)

Chris van Rossman of Corvallis Oregon turned on his do-everything combo TV and got a big surprise—the police, the Civil Air Patrol, and the County Search and Rescue Officers knocked on his door.

Banana Skins – February 2021 (#316-321)

A number of people who had been enjoying weightless activities in the non-spinning central hub of Virgin Space Ltd’s newest hotel “Arthur C Clarke III” found themselves trapped on the ‘ceiling’ for 15 minutes...