He should see if there is a reward for turning in airlines that allow passengers to use their phone on the plane...maybe it will offset the fine.

Since when is talking on a phone "disorderly conduct"?

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to calm down."

Heart attack? Interesting.

"The tree came out of nowhere and struck my car."

Didn't Southwest realize he was a the only one who could save his Dad's life, over the phone?!

And this shows you how easily police can abuse the disorderly persons charge.

I read somewhere else (Yahoo News, I think) that he was yelling at the flight attendants and telling them to kiss his ass, but not saying anything about why he was on the phone.

Didn't Myth Busters "Bust" the whole cellphone causing interference thing? I could be wrong though but usually TV dosn't lie to me

Too bad he had his new iPhone D-fib with him, not at home with his dad.

@womynist: That reminds me of the movie "Anger Management" with Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson. It may be funny in the movie but I am starting to think it ain't so funny no more when it becomes closer to reality.

Don't planes have airphones?

Can you hear me now?

..hello?

..Dad are you there?

(yikes... even I don't approve of this comment)

Disorderly conduct doesn't have to be physical. I have heard pleanty of people on their cell phone who basicly scream into the phone. You would never think it is only inches away.... sigh.

And I don't want to be stuck on a 4-10 hour flight with someone talking to people. Too noisy in too small and area. Even if it was a 30 minute flight, your phone policy can not show bias. It needs to cover all flights.

@donkeyjote: I am 23 years old and have never had an infraction with the police. Nor has my parents. Nor has anyone in my extended family or friends. I guess it isn't abused so much after all.

@Red AuerБЯд╒╒: Then it shows dad on the other end saying something "Hahaha, I was just f*cking with you, son"

but the son is freaking out.

Cingular.

Yeah...the full story had him on the phone for 20 minutes. The flight attendants told him to hang up the phone, and each time his response was "kiss my ass". THEN they called the cops. The airlines can get a $20,000 fine if someone is caught using a phone, so it's in their best interest to get him to hang up.

@katekate: Southwest removed airphones from their planes in 2001.

Reminds me of the pilot (no pun intended) of The West Wing.

Toby: "We're flying in a Lockheed eagle series L-1011. It came off the line 20 months ago and carries a Sim-5 Transponder tracking system. Are you telling me I can still flummox this thing with something I bought at Radio Shack?"

@Chongo:

Are you talking about the SAME mythbusters that says Laser Jammers don't jam police Lidar, when there is plenty of evidence that they do?

@Chongo:

I think they did debunk it, but they weren't the only ones who did.

At this point in time, the phone do NOT interfere with the airplanes communication equipment, and years ago at one time, using them on a plane could interfere with cell phone use on the ground (I can't remember why that was the case).

Today, cell phone use on the plane is still banned for various reasons, but I know one of the reasons is the fear that a passenger talking to loud can become disruptive, and the airlines would prefer that their planes not be like buses or trains with everyone talking on their cell phones.

There are a couple of other reasons, but the main point is that some folks find others using their cell phones annoying, and they want it restricted, especially on airplanes.

Sometimes they lie about the rules to solve another problem.

In emergencies, they used to always tell you to take your shoes off. People just assumed it was to help them swim, or to avoid puncturing the slide. They never told you it was because you need something in your hands to occupy them. Before that, people would jump on the slides and try to control their descent, breaking fingers/wrists/arms in the process.

Just some random trivia.

@PunditGuy: That's a great line. I wonder what would happen if someone actually tried that on a plane

@donkeyjote: Actually, I think this is a very appropriate use of a disorderly persons charge. The airlines claim that cell phones interfere with their equipment and if that is true then he was endangering the lives of everyone on the plane. That's disorderly in my book.

It is completely ignorant to think that a cell phone could bring down a plane. If this was the case, why wouldn't terrorists just bring cell phones and make calls while flying commercial? If the airlines want to ban their use because they annoy other passengers, just tell us that. Don't try to scare people into complying with rules when there is nothing to be afraid of.

@TWinter: No, because that would be a attempted manslaughter or murder charge. Aggravated assault. Gross indifference to human life. There are plenty of more accurate charges for that. And then the airline would have to prove that it can or does interfere with their equipment in court.

If you piss off a member of the flight crew enough.... expect to get your ass yanked off the flight & in jail. (and it doesnt take much to piss off an already irritable attendant).

IMO fLight crews have too much power & can easily abuse it. Same goes with TSA goons.

I believe there was a story a while back about a passenger being threatened with "interfering with a flight crew" because he didnt want to sit in a freshly urine-stained seat.

I flew cross country about two weeks ago and when we landed, I went to call my wife and noticed that my phone had been on the whole time, receiving e-mails and text messages.

I'm sure I'm not the only one that has accidentally did this, but I thought on the way home that I could get some e-mails answered. I didn't, but I thought about it.

If anyone has Cingular, I'm sure you've heard feedback over every single speaker you pass. I spoke to a guy who designed airplane systems, and the phones don't interfere with the communications systems because of the frequency difference. However, there is a possibility that they can cause interference with sensors on the planes, such as fuel and position monitors. Even though it's a pretty small chance due to the wires and components being shielded, that's the rationale behind banning cell phone use on planes.

Currently the Regs are you must turn off all electronics during Take off and landing and while in flight certain electonics that broadcase are not allowed at all.

Whether or not this actually impacts the avionics of the aircraft does nto matter. those are the regs and to deliberatly not follow them is grounds for arrest.

There is talk about changing those regs but that would be evil too. I hate Loud talker person on the 20 minute bus ride home I could not bear loud talker person on a 6 hour trans continental flight

What difference does it make that his cell phone won't interfere with the operation of the aircraft?

Or was this supposed to be a case of civil disobedience against an unfair/unnecessary law? It doesn't sound like it's being promoted that way.

@Chongo: I don't care if it's a myth, I hope people believe it. For whatever reason, otherwise civil, considerate people become intolerable fuckfaces when they're talking on the mobile.

When I first had a cell phone, I did not read the manual and did not know how to turn it off. I took a flight about a week later and just turned off all the sounds and vibrations and sat in my airplane seat hoping I would not cause a major catastrohe...and I think I slept a little too.

his final excuse..."I'm Jack Bauer damn it!!!"

It sounds like this guy was a jerk, but nothing on earth would stop me from calling the hospital if my father had a heart attack. I hope his legal trouble didn't prevent him from being at his father's side.

@Chongo: yea, so the technology isnt dangerous. but the first time I get caught next to some loud mouth on the phone, I will be aressted for assault.

@Chongo: Yes, you are correct. Mythbusters did "BUST" this myth. Cell phones do not cause interference with aircraft communications.

but he felt compelled because of the life and death nature of it to make that call,

Oh, bull. Unless he's his father's attending physician, he isn't necesary. What was he going to do over the phone?

@Serpephone: No, they didn't bust it. They found it unlikely but plausible.

@nardo218: Oh, like you've never performed open heart surgery over the phone. Shit, just last week, I performed a hip replacement surgery on a dog via text messages.

@Ash78: I always just cross my arms in front of me if I am going down a fast/long slide and always have seen emergency evacuation instructions showing people doing the same. Crossing your arms also keeps them from flailing and getting injured.

The "take off your shoes" warning is real, though, since some shoes have sharp heels etc. that could damage the slide.

That said, IF he was only talking on the phone and not being loud about it, he's guilty of failing to follow crew instructions, not disorderly conduct, but if he was making a scene, then the charge makes sense.

But... if you're experiencing a family emergency like that, you're probably not rational, even if normally you're very calm and collected. Being worried and frantic does that. Judgment would be good here.

But, I was not there, so I know I don't know everything about the situation - just pointing out a few things to consider.

@PunditGuy: I miss the L-1011.

Just out of curiosity, why didn't this guy just go into the bathroom and make his call, no one would have known that he was on the phone.

I'm all for no cell phones on flights. When I'm trapped in a small tube with a bunch of other people, the last thing I want is more random chatter from idiots on their cell phone.

It's bad enough haven't to hear the 1 sided conversations from the girls on the train who talk about the most inane things at an unreasonable volume.

@Serpephone: No, Mythbusters decided it was unlikely but couldn't prove it conclusively because (surprise) they couldn't go up in a plane with a phone.

They also admitted they could never test all the possible phones and all the possible airplane electronics to know for sure.

@edosan: Yeah, that's about right. My understanding of the rationale behind banning electronics is because it's logistically impossible to test the interaction of ALL consumer electronics on every little system of every plane model in use. Basically, they ban everything on the off chance that somewhere there's a phone/watch/vibe that actually interferes with one of the subsystems.

I wonder what service he uses. I once left my phone on when going to cle from jfk I thought I had the phone off until we took off and it started beeping because of no network coverage. I know that sprint doesn't have coverage if your in a plane

good. I despise people who ignore flight attendants. If you dont like them, take the bus.

@Ex_EA_Slave: You're right, current cell phones are not going to bring down a plane. But the worry is more about interrupting things like navigation rather than actually bringing down the plane.

And current cell phones won't interfere with flight systems because they're shielded and such. But, the concern with the FAA is that technology that comes out tomorrow might actually interfere with systems. So rather than trying to be sure that people are using only certain types of cell phones, and testing to see which ones are safe, they just have a blanket ban on it.

@ohnoes: Any GSM phone will do that -- Cingular/AT&T/T-Mobile in the US, almost every carrier overseas, except for Japan which I think uses mainly CDMA.

It's also why most GSM phones don't work with many hearing aids.

Southwest is perfectly justified here. And I'm glad the guy was arrested. He'll now have a federal arrest and an NCIC record because his call was so damned important.

Whether cell phones cause interference or not, there are strict rules in the cabin for a reason - and no matter what those reasons might be, you agree to abide by those rules when you board.

If it's so important, get the regulations changed - don't just sit there and whine about how the rules aren't fair.

@Buran: How often do you go down emergency slides?