“Frustrated with the slow process at the FAA, Sen. Claire McCaskill said Thursday she will write legislation to allow passengers to use electronic devices during all aspects of flight,” Burgess Everett reports for Politico.
“In a letter to FAA Administrator Michael Huerta, the Missouri Democrat said she is ‘concerned’ with Huerta’s ‘lack of direct engagement’ on expanding the use of personal electronic devices during flight and called the current set of rules that force passengers to put away their iPods at altitudes below 10,000 feet ‘preposterous,'” Everett reports. “The proposed bill would not apply to cellphone use but would dramatically expand the use of iPads, other tablets, music players and other devices before, during and after flight.”
Everett reports, “McCaskill said neither members of the public nor lawmakers believe the FAA’s contention that regulations requiring passengers to shut off their devices during takeoff and landing ‘are any longer about safety.’ McCaskill first raised the issue with Huerta last December, noting what she called the FAA’s ‘intransigence’ on the issue, even as flight crews received the go-ahead to use devices during flight as ‘electronic flight bags’ that will replace the bulky bags filled with dozens of pounds of critical aviation information.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote on March 19, 2012:
It’s a load-of-crap rule, as anyone who’s ever flown knows. On any given flight, multiple people with iOS and other devices never turn them off (likely, some of these people don’t even know how to really turn their devices off) or never even put them to sleep. They certainly don’t put them into “Airplane Mode,” either. Their Wi-Fi is on all flight long and most of the time there are at least three personal hotspots bouncing all throughout the plane, too. The fact is – we see it almost every flight – some people simply hide them from the flight attendants and continue to use them during takeoff and/or landing and, guess what, we’re still here.
Related articles:
American Airlines first commercial carrier with FAA approval to use Apple iPads in all phases of flight – September 11, 2012
FAA to study use of iPads, iPhone on airplanes during entire flight – August 28, 2012
F.A.A. taking ‘fresh look’ at passenger use of iPad, devices use during takeoff and landing – March 19, 2012
