The iPhone has a setting that makes it safe to use on an airplane. So-called “airplane mode” disables cell phone, radio, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth signals, thus allowing you to watch movies staring Jennifer Love Hewitt while flying through the air.
And that’s what reader Casey tried to do. Unfortunately, it seems that the flight attendants had never heard of “airplane mode,” and called the police when Casey refused to stop watching I Know What You Did Last Summer.
I am an iPhone owner, and this is my story. I recently was traveling to Hawaii on ATA airlines and took my iPhone along for the trip. During the first 2 hours of my 5 hour flight I was listening to music using the ipod function of my iPhone.
The iPhone was sitting on my tray table in front of my seat, in plain sight. Then I decided to watch a movie. So I fired up the classic “I know what you did last summer”, a movie I had never seen before. About 1 and a half hours into this cinematic masterpiece I had a flight attendant try to get my attention.
I paused the movie just as Jennifer love Hewitt was screaming something about “please stop killing my friends” or “what do you want from me”, honestly I am not sure what she was saying because I paused the movie and looked to see what the flight attendant wanted. He said something to the effect of “you can’t use a cell phone in flight”. OK, that makes sense, so I assured him that I had the phone in airplane mode and that all cell, wifi and bluetooth was off.
He again said “you have to stop using it” and walked on… Now I know something about flying and the rules, and I am pretty sure I can use the MP3 part of a cell phone if it is in airplane mode, above 10,000 feet. So, I continued to watch, needing to find out who the killer with the hook was and why they were messing with J Love.
About 10 minutes later, the same guy comes back and waves his hand in front of my face, I pause the movie again, and look over at him. He says that I am not allowed to use a cell phone in flight and I am breaking FAA rules. Again I tell him I have the phone in airplane mode, and would be more than happy to show that to him. He didn’t want to see it and said I am breaking FAA rules.
“OK, maybe I am wrong ?” I think to myself.
So I ask what rule I am breaking. He tells me I am talking on my cell phone. I again explain I am not using the cell part and it is disabled. I go on to further explain that I have been on other airlines that have specific written rules that say cell phones in airplane mode are OK above 10,00 feet, so how could it be a FAA rule. And if it is, what rule ? He has no answer for that, but to now yells at me “You have to do anything I say, I am going to have you arrested”….
ANYTHING ? Wow…I didn’t know they had that power in the air?
So now the head flight attendant comes over and tell me the same thing about FAA rules, and I explain again to her the same stuff, and asked her again “What rule am I breaking?” She runs off and comes back with a slip of paper that has about 4 or 5 FAA rules that the flight attendant is supposed to check off and sign and give to you as a written warning. She has crossed all of them out and written “Talking on cell phone”…I tell her again “I am not talking on my cell, the cell part is off, and this is a device that has many functions that maybe you are not aware of and the offending functions are disabled.”
She goes on to tell me that I am breaking FAA rules. I say “WHAT RULE ?”
Oh, while this is going on the first flight attendant guy is behind her yelling at me about that he wants me arrested.
Then she runs off and comes back with a HUGE book of FAA rules. Finally, I will get to see the rule about no phones in airplane mode (even though I know it doesn’t exist) She drops it in my lap, open to a page that says “Things not allowed in flight: Talking on cell phones, Playing online cell phone games… Things allowed over 10,00 feet: MP3 Players…etc..”
So I say “what does that show? I am not talking on my phone”
She grabs the book and runs off in a huff. And again the guy yells at me “I have called the police, you are going to jail”…
So we start our decent and I turn my iPhone off, because I follow REAL FAA rules. We land and there are police waiting for me, the flight attendant that started this whole thing makes me walk to the front of the plane while everyone else has to stay in their seats and I stand there for 10 minutes. I kind of feel like I am standing in front of class as punishment because I was disruptive, not that this has ever happened to me in school, ok maybe it has.
Then the police take me off the flight and to a waiting area. I explain everything that happened, they go and talk to the male flight attendant. I see him waving his arms and looking very angry and animated. Why is he so hell bent on getting me in trouble ? So then the police come back over to me and explain that he said this particular plane is not shielded for ANY electronic equipment at all, so even a phone in airplane mode could cause problems.
OK, so why didn’t he tell me that at all in flight, all he said was i was breaking FAA rules, and also why was everyone else allowed to use their laptops, mp3 players, etc ?? The police officer looked confused, and said he would be right back. He talked to the guy again and then came back and said that the airplane is not shielded for ONLY phones in airplane mode.
Come on, really ? he has changed his story 3 times, and all he said in flight was FAA this and FAA that, nothing about this specific plane. The police sorta laughed and said wait one second, they went and talked to him, he got really upset and left. Then they came back to me and said I was free to go.
I have never been harassed by someone so much as that flight attendant. He was very rude to me the whole flight, lied about FAA rules, and changed his story to police 3 times. I took a Southwest flight later in the week, they have it clearly written in the inflight magazine that airplane mode is fine over 10,000 feet.
So, if you have an iPhone, ATA airlines does not want your business. I was harassed, embarrassed, and delayed for no reason, other than I own an iPhone, the ATA flight crew has no idea about what are real FAA rules, and they like to just make up whatever they want to scare you into obeying them, because you “have to do anything” they say…
Casey
Casey submitted this complaint to ATA and they’ve not responded. Apple’s website says that the iPhone is safe to use on an airplane while in “airplane mode,” and we see no reason to doubt this.
It seems that ATA owes Casey a big apology.
(Photo:Drewski2112)
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@JOEONSUNSET
As you point out yourself, it might be helpful to read the caselaw. The case I cited above makes it clear that the possibility that the defendant might continue to use the device and cause interference was itself a separate and distinct cause of intimidation. Admittedly there were other (more valid, IMHO) facts used to support the finding of intimidation, but a future case could easily find that simply refusing to turn off a device believed to be causing navigational problems was itself an act of intimidation.
I have been frying for over 30 years. The rules have changed for us passengers due to our buddy Bin-Ladin. Airplane security & the overall industry has been in termoil since 911 but, so has the rest of us. Flight attendents or even the ticket agents have lost their patience with passengers. There is nobody willing to go out of there way for the passengers anymore. Airline people (not pilots) do not deal with passengers with respect or sympathy for being late or delayed. I have missed flights because the gate agent wouldn’t even try to get a bag through to the plane only being 5 minutes late. I know rules are rules. It’s OK for us to sit & wait for the no show crew or other delays. Airlines need to wake up & be more accomadating to passengers. We are your meal tickets. This is not only with lost cost airlines only, the big boys United & American are just as bad. What happened to the days when the Flight Attendents when riendly & nice. This power thing went to their heads.
This is just another case where the government has taken away all of our rights because of 9/11. This flight attendant should have been thrown off the plane first, then we could talk about breaking rules. And to those people who think it’s best to just do nothing when you’re being harrassed and you’re in the right, I hope you all burn in hell with the rest of your pathetic, spinless, idiots. If you don’t know you’re job, (flight attendants), then you should just stay at home with the rest of the loosers in this country. Oh, and by the way, if ever a fa puts a book in my lap, he/she will go out the window. I’d gladly go to jail for that.
While I can’t say much for Casey’s taste in movies, it does appear that he made a crucial mistake. He attempted to reason with an unreasonable person. When faced with that unfortunate circumstance, one has a choice;
(a) abide by said unreasonable person’s demands or
(b) assert one’s rights in a peaceful way
I have the feeling that the heaping of abuse that FAs take on a daily basis has more to do with the FA’s knee-jerk reaction than anything else. You can find plenty of accounts of revolting passenger behavior on the internet if you care to look. Then again, this particular FA may just be a power-mad ass.
In any event, I actually approve of Casey’s stance. Perhaps the FA, and most likely the FA’s boss, learned a valuable lesson regarding the responsibility associated with being in a position of authority. When you are given authority, getting it right matters. If you don’t get it right, getting laughed at by a couple of cops as a ninny usually takes one down a peg or two.
I won’t even go deep into the technical discussion of whether cell phones actually interfere with airplane navigation systems other than to say that Boeing and others have analyzed the issue exhaustively and have never been proven to show any interference under normal operating conditions and the most comprehensive study done, by the Civil Aviation Authority of the UK, proved that the cellphone would have to be operating at maximum power within 30 cms of key electronics to cause any disruption.
So if the pilot of your plane is on his cellphone during takeoff or landing, please have the FA make sure they turn it off. Happy travels.
I had the displeasure of flying on a FILTHY United flight (#17 JFK-SFO) last night and got similarly harassed by flight attendant “Judy”.
Lucky for me, there was no threat of being arrested, but my god, did she make a scene.
She got so bent out of shape that when I asked for a gin & tonic during beverage service, she refused, accusing me of “if you’re too drunk to follow simple instructions about using a cell phone, I’m certainly not giving you a drink.” Mind you, I was stone sober when I boarded the plane.
Once every few years I get stuck on a United flight for one reason or another, but my experience last night just topped the cake. Never EVER again.
You cannot be arrested for using the iphone in this manner, you can, however, be arrested for not complying with an order of the crew member weather or not that order was smart or not you are legally obligated to do anything they tell you to do so long as you do not believe it will jeopardize the flight or the lives or you or your fellow passengers.
It is a shame that you typical air steward isn’t a blog hungry dolt waiting to pick a fight with somebody who happens to know less than someone else. Why couldn’t she just switch it off? They clearly didn’t get it, and ‘Casey’s’ actions made her seem like a pedant, and only served to waste the time of half flight crew simply doing their job, not forgetting the time of the police.
Sorry if this post is “excessively self-promotional, obnoxious, or even worse” but if you publish this crap, then have a comment box under it, you are asking for it.