Published in Mobiles

Phone users ignore flight ban

by on10 May 2013



I don’t care if the damn thing crashes

Mobile phone users are so addicted to their toys that they will not switch them off, despite dire warnings from airline companies.

The survey released by the Airline Passenger Experience Association and the Consumer Electronics Association suggests US regulators could ease the ban, which assumes that electronic devices could interfere with navigation equipment. The rationalisation is that since 30 percent of passengers accidentally left an electronic device turned on during a flight, chases are they are not causing problems for navigation gear after all. Otherwise a lot of planes would be dropping from the skies or be ending up in exotic and unplanned locations.

When asked to turn off the devices, 59 percent said they always turn their devices completely off, 21 percent of passengers said they switch their devices to "airplane mode," and five percent say they sometimes turn their devices completely off. Of those passengers who accidentally left a portable device turned on in-flight, 61 percent said it was a smartphone.

The Federal Aviation Administration has begun a review of the rules. The The Federal Communications Commission studied the question several years ago but found insufficient evidence to support lifting the ban.

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