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FAA May Let You Use Electronic Devices During Airplane Takeoff and Landing Soon
colinneagle writes "Members of an FAA advisory panel are reportedly meeting this week to make changes to the ban on the use of electronic devices on an airplane during takeoff and landing. The new regulations will allow the use of electronic devices to access content stored on the devices, including e-books, music, podcasts, and video. Sending emails, connecting to Wi-Fi, and making phone calls will still be prohibited. The announcement is expected to be made later this month, and the rules put into effect next year, according to the report."
So you are going to make the flight attendants know if someone is reading an ebook and not sending an email? Seems ridiculous, they have a lot to do on take off and landing already.
"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." -- Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Now all that I need to do is to get my home made EMP device small enough to carry on ....
Finally!
A use for the "airplane mode", except "I want to play and not be disturbed".
run that
Watch as the Luddites crawl out from out of their caves to tell us all how they think it's ridiculous people can't be without their devices for 30 minutes during the takeoff and landing and how they don't want to hear someone talking on the phone etc. Get of my lawn!
Because the undercover air marshal will be the only one not fooling around with electronic gizmos during takeoff. :)
Possibly the pilot, too.
That 20 minutes or so where I was disconnected from grid was intolerable. Sometimes it would be as long as half an hour! Half an hour without 'liking' anything! Also, my virtual farm was practically in ruins and my digital pets were thirsty.
I'm sure the minute the FAA will permit it the TSA will make it illegal. Like when everyone was cheering that you can take pocket knives into planes again. For like a week or so.
Considering all the passenger videos of takeoff and landings that are on Youtube, some all the way from the gate pushback, taxi, all the way up to level flight, they haven't been doing a good job of enforcement anyway. And it's pretty clear modern personal electronic has little to no impact on operational safety of the aircraft.
For the last ten years I've been part of an unofficial and unpaid test team that has been examining how safe it is to use mobile phones and similar transceivers during take-off and landing. My planes have never had problems.
The FAA gives us some crumbs while the TSA takes the main course. I'd rather have my electronics have the batteries temporarily confiscated than have to endure radiation or gropings.
What is so earthshakingly important that it cannot wait
until the takeoff or landing phases are completed ?
The truth is, little or nothing is this important.
But, if such "decisions" by the government distract
the masses in the US from paying attention to what
really matters, this is where the true value of "news"
items like this lies. It's bread and circuses, folks,
and remember that all you need to do when you see
the drone circling above your house is turn up the volume
on your TV.
Oh man, I'll be so glad if they start letting us listen to headphones during takeoff again. When I was a teen with a discman, that was the highlight of every flight for me...choosing a kickass track, and cranking it while accelerating down the runway.
It seems to me that while this is good, the FAA should be concentrating more on the bad press from the security nonsense and unreasonable searches (why I don't fly into the US any more) than worrying about using my iCrap on take off and landing.
Mean what you say...say what you mean.
What about having people ready to MOVE during an emergency? Isn't that why bags, tables, and everything is put away during takeoff and landing? How much longer will it take to get a whole plane emptied while waiting for those few folks to update their Facebook stataus, post pictures to Instgram, upload the crash to YouTube, and not get out of their seat and off the plane?
Let me just update my Facebook status before I open the emergency exit for everyone else
Consumer digital cameras and portable camcorders were available before the takeoff/landing ban and they were used. But some of the high-sensitivity motion-capable DSLRs and EVIL cameras would be able to capture much more of the beauty of flight. It would nice to see these taken off the ban as they are mostly harmless. I've often thought of bringing a vintage wind-up (mechanical) 8mm or 16mm movie or 35mm film camera to photograph the interesting early part of a flight.
During later parts of the flight atmospheric haze makes photographs dull but I found that the camera's "infrared" RAW developing profile (fiddles with the red channel), really does cut through that haze. Some night flights (especially transatlantic great-circle routes over Greenlend) go far enough from cities and far enough north to give passengers a view of the northern lights. I've seen some airlines broadcast a view from a cockpit camera on one of the TV channels. It is a shame we're told to close our cabin windows so we end up watching some ridiculous B-movie when one of the most beautiful sights in the world is just outside
Why Can't You Use Phones on Planes?
So here's the thing: It's their plane.
When you buy the ticket and board the plane, you agree to play by their rules. They have the property rights and have sold you limited rights to your seats with stipulations.
If you can't accept the stipulations and choose to break the rules, don't be surprised if you need to be embarrassed into submission or even thrown off the plane when you get caught breaking the rules.
Your opinion of their rules and the basis of their rules are irrelevant given that you have already agreed to their rules. So sit down, turn off everything they say to turn off, and find solace in the fact that you're following the minimal ethic of peaceful coexistence- honoring a contract.
NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!
Jesus fucking Christ you weak-minded twerps. You will survive being unable to play with your toy for 10 minutes.
FFS.
I was afraid I wouldn't be able to call people and tell them the plane was taking off or landing and that I'm still in good health since leaving the terminal!
Hmm... Thought most of the reasoning against iPods and other mp3 devices which had no ability to transmit/receive was that by wearing the earbuds you were inhibiting your ability to hear any announcements or instructions by the flight attendants...
Wait, who was the "they" that already had a lot to do while strapped in their seats?
I can see the the tweets streaming in from pilots now.... "OK, landing gear is coming out..."
Rule followers caused the holocaust!
Also we tend to have higher blood pressure :( It bothers me when people keep talking on their phone, even though I know it shouldn't. And deep down, I wish I was daring enough to continue reading my eBook, even in airplane mode. Also, seriously, why don't people signal when they are changing lanes?
refactor the law, its bloated, confusing and unmaintainable.
What about having people ready to MOVE during an emergency? Isn't that why bags, tables, and everything is put away during takeoff and landing?
I thought it was about avoiding/reducing injuries from flying luggage or hitting the seat or table in front of you with your head or adam's apple if the plane bumped into something, ran off the runway into the dirt beside it, or otherwise decelerated or experienced strong G-forces during some mishap.
Same reason they ask you to go back to your seat and belt in if the run into turbulence midflight - though the latter (almost always) has less extreme forces.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
Here is a protip from an experienced traveler: If the cabin starts rotating past 30 degrees, or if it pitches or yaws significantly, stop whatever you're doing and look up.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
If a plane is about to crash it is better to be terrified and tense up instead of being relaxed and distracted.
well, you would not want to miss a hilarious opportunity to void your bowels in public.
I've decided to Diversify my Holdings. I've divided my cash between my left and right pockets, instead of all in one.
So if I've dropped my i-Device and now it spews communication-jamming, radar-jamming radiation, it's still okay to use during take-off and landing?
Sweet!
Whoa, lots of comments here from people who think the issue is one of radio interference. No. No, that's not been a worry for a very long time.
No, the issue is one of projectiles and idiot passengers.
Personally I don't want to die from:
(1) Having survived decceleration from 200 knots to 0, being hit in the back of the head by the tablet from row 30
(2) Smoke inhalation whilst waiting to get out of the plane, because the guys nearest the exit are trying to figure out which of the smashed up tablets and phones on the floor is theirs.
I'd rather they kept the ban.
-- Dave
Now we can officially wait for the sociopaths to make their Facebook status updates before we think of making an emergency exit if the plane gets in trouble on take-off or landing.
Also, the "more legroom" is also a thing of the past in many places... the seat next to you will be free but the seat pitch is the same throughout the aeroplane on many short-haul flights.
Esli epei etot cumprenan, shris soa Sfaha.
As far as I understood the query about devices being off on landing and takeoff was that people could react swiftly enough in case of trouble - emergency exit or bracing maneuvers.
If you're busy doing whatever with your computer and there is a crash, then:
- you now have in your hands something that will transform into a deadly projectile (a 1kg computer accelerated to many Gs has a lot of potential energy)
- the time you'll need to put your device out of the way may be the difference between life and death for you and the rest of people at your row.
It's not only a matter of interference...
I just want to be able to read my Kindle during takeoff and landing. I'm a nervous flyer, and having something to distract me from the mass violation of the law of gravity and the impending death that I fear every time we push away from the stand would really help!
It does keep me buying books in the airport stores though :)
Eliminating the FAA requirement of flight mode opens the doors to surveillance devices you can't remove the battery from, can't turn off, and can't put in flight mode to disable the radios. It has nothing to do with flying, it's just another step towards the perfect voluntarily carried surveillance device. I wonder how long before luxury cars have rf-blocking center consoles as an option.
"Also, the "more legroom" is also a thing of the past in many places... the seat next to you will be free but the seat pitch is the same throughout the aeroplane on many short-haul flights."
Oour National Carrier has just that in all the planes. It just has a movable divider that you can move forth an back to the last row where somebody was dumb enough to pay up the higher price.
The only thing you get for your money, you don't have to _see_ the other passengers behind you during the flight.
Also, the "more legroom" is also a thing of the past in many places... the seat next to you will be free but the seat pitch is the same throughout the aeroplane on many short-haul flights.
Ahh yes, the new BA planes are like that. Right pain in the ass (or leg).
Adjust your work pattern so you don't fly shorthaul.
So I should be able to use my HAM radio on board!
I always thought that the opposite is true. But right now I can't find any good reference to back it up. Certainly drunks often suffer only smaller injuries or bruises in various incidents compared to those who are sober - because they don't control their muscles so much and/or don't realize/react to what's going on and so are more relaxed.
A single iPod isn't going to cause any interference with flight electronics. But I've wondered what it might be like if everyone on the plane were using cellular devices at maximum power. Could that be a problem?
Also, during times when the plane is not completely level or experiencing turbulence or headed for an uncomfortable emergency water landing, I would not appreciate having someone's iPad slip out of their hand and fly into my face. Just saying.
No, you have always been explicitly allowed to wear passive earmuffs or earplugs.