] On another occasion in 1996, a Boeing 767 pitched and
] dropped 120 metres before pilots recovered control. A
] passenger using an electronic dictionary was asked to
] turn it off, and the plane's systems returned to normal.
 . . .
] Pilots routinely ask for portable devices to be switched off
] during take-off and landing. because they are too busy to deal
] with problems with interference. But, once in the air, when
] passengers are allowed to switch devices on, pilots have had
] to contend with a range of bewildering malfunctions.

This is a subject I've often been curious about, since I routinely use my Palm Pilot on aircraft. Does this mean that each time that I'm in seat 27C and I flip open my Palm IIIc, that the aircraft's autopilot goes "hmm"? I'd always thought that the signal from anything so small would be inconsequential, or no worse than my seat-mate's digital calculator sports watch (which can't be turned off), and that the main danger was from things such as cellphones or larger devices such as laptop computers.

Now I'm not so sure . . .

Aircraft and 'Portable Electronic Devices'