FAA Pushed To Review Ban On Electronics 369
First time accepted submitter sfm writes "Ever tangle with a grumpy flight attendant over turning off your Kindle Fire before takeoff? This may change if the FAA reviews their policy for these devices. The FAA is under extreme pressure to either change the rules or give a good reason to keep them in place. From the article: 'According to people who work with an industry working group that the Federal Aviation Administration set up last year to study the use of portable electronics on planes, the agency hopes to announce by the end of this year that it will relax the rules for reading devices during takeoff and landing. The change would not include cellphones.'"
Re:Not the technology (Score:5, Informative)
Anyway, even for a little two-seater plane, you must give the whole lecture about fastening seat belts, emergency exits, etc, even though there is only obviously one way out on a small plane. This is a good thing. Even though frequent flyers get annoyed by it, myself included, on an airline with a reasonable number of new flyers it is something quite necessary.
On another note, the FAA errs on the side of caution, which is also a good thing. However, it has become obvious that flight with portable electronics is safe. I know I've personally seen dozens of people with their phones on during takeoff/landing. This particular subject is ready to be looked at, and I think at some point we will not have to bother with this any more.
One other item of note: If you are a passenger on a plane, you have no rights. The FAA authorizes the pilot and crew full authority over what you can and cannot do on a plane. This is also (generally) a good thing. Without this kind of authority, we would have the potential for greater loss of life.
Re:Avionics (Score:3, Informative)
The last time I checked the president is the head of the administration.
The federal administration. And the last time I checked, the governor was the head of the state administration. Guess who is responsible for asking the federal government for aide in time of disaster. Wrong, not the President. It's the governor's job to ask for aide, and if the governor refuses to ask, the federal government is not supposed to just waltz in and take over. It's called "United States" for a reason.
In every state of the Union, it is the governor who makes the request for federal disaster assistance, not the President who picks up the phone and says "we're sending stuff whether you like it or not". Most governors are proactive. The ones involved in Katrina weren't.
Part of my dislike for Bush was that he can't be bothered with details. As president I think that this is part of the job.
You've got to be kidding. The details of running a massive federal government are supposed to be dealt with at the level of a President? Do you realize just how LARGE the US government is? He has a cabinet for a reason. And each cabinet member has assistants and aides and such. No, being a 'detail man' is not part of the President's job and cannot possibly be.
About a day before the storm hit, he was fully briefed on the projections (there is a video of this) and the projections were close to reality. He left it to his underlings ...
You mean the governors of the states involved. They are not his underlings. They are elected officials who have the responsibility of dealing with the "details" of getting federal assistance when they want it.
... and went on vacation.
You do realize that "on vacation" for a President includes a complete mobile communications facility with secure communications with anyplace in the world, don't you? That had any governor stepped up to the plate and did his job, any requests that the President had to deal with himself would have been in his hands for approval within seconds of them being made. He cannot approve requests that are never made, or are made too late to be off any value.
Re:Avionics (Score:5, Informative)
I know pilots that have cellphone conversations while landing a 737.
Since 1981 this has been illegal. I'm guessing you don't know a pilot who really does this..
FAA Sterile cockpit rules make doing this illegal as all conversations must be limited to essential conversations during departure and landing. You can't discuss anything not directly related and essential to the current flight. Commercial pilots would be in serious trouble if they are on the cell phone while landing a 737. You cannot discuss work schedules, what you did last night, what you want to do later, where the aircraft is headed to next, what the weather is going to be in a few hours or what it was last week. You may only say things that are essential for flying the aircraft when below 10,000 Feet (generally). All other conversations are forbidden and thus phone calls are prohibited.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterile_Cockpit_Rule