Three passengers on an Alitalia flight from Milan were arrested last week after refusing to turn off their mobile phones. The pilot, who had asked passengers to switch off their mobiles on three occasions, aborted takeoff at the last minute after noticing interference with the plane’s navigation instruments.
Police boarded the plane at Linate airport and the culprits were arrested and removed after being pointed out by the flight crew. They now face prosecution for failing to observe safety regulations and could spend three months in jail.
The arrests come amid speculation that the recent crash-landing by a British Airways Boeing 777 at Heathrow may have been caused by electromagnetic interference from wireless devices. The Air Accident Investigations Branch of the Department for Transport is examining the possibility that a fuel-line problem brought down flight BA038. But Nina Anderson, author of Worse Than Global Warming: Wave Technology, suggests that interference from devices such as mobile phones could have affected fly-by-wire systems, disrupting communications between the aircraft’s electronic control unit and the engines.
Last year, Ofcom published proposals for airlines to install technology that allows passengers to make and receive calls while in the air. The American Federal Aviation Authority continues to ban the use of cellular phones on flights due to safety concerns
Source: The Timesonline
By: Grey Area - 1st February 2008 at 23:53
What the ******* is a ”Paltroon” ? :diablo:
I’m not here to complete your education, young fellow-me-lad. :diablo:
By: old shape - 1st February 2008 at 23:34
What the ******* is a ”Paltroon” ? :diablo:
Somebody who claims to be bright when in fact they use wikipedia / google.
By: Ren Frew - 1st February 2008 at 22:49
Wouldn’t that we nice. ?
Alternatively, drowning it into your drink 😉
Waste of a good drink, drown it in theirs !
By: frankvw - 1st February 2008 at 22:37
Wouldn’t that we nice. ?
Alternatively, drowning it into your drink 😉
By: Ren Frew - 1st February 2008 at 18:49
Good !
Last year, I was on a flight from Geneva to Brussels, and there was a +/- 60 year old man (incidentally, also Italian), businessman type, who started being rude and making a scandal at boarding, when the gate agent told him that his “carry on” had to go in the hold (I haven’t seen something that large, even in the US). He of course refused, and started calling her names, but the professional gate agent still had his luggage put in the hold, while keeping a smile.
On the same plane, the guy kept being on the phone, nearly till we started the takeoff roll, and never turned off his cellphone, continuing to send text messages later (and he had one of those annoying ringones, of course).I was hoping for customs to give him a thourough check in Brussels, which unfortunately didn’t happen.
Do people really need their phones to be on 24/7 ? Planes might be the last place where you aren’t bothered by them, and I hope they stay banned for as long as possible.
Isn’t there an aviation by-law allowing passengers to forcibly remove annoying cellular telephones from passengers who should know better? And if not would I get into trouble if I just removed it anyway and jumped up and down on it, especially those with the ringtone set to ‘Nokia Tune’ ???
By: Ren Frew - 1st February 2008 at 18:45
Can I remind you all that swearing and foul language are not acceptable in these forums under any circumstances?
Thanks
GA
What the ******* is a ”Paltroon” ? :diablo:
By: Grey Area - 1st February 2008 at 18:35
Moderator Message
Can I remind you all that swearing and foul language are not acceptable in these forums under any circumstances?
Thanks
GA
By: Jet 22 - 1st February 2008 at 17:15
Well it deserves the three scallywags right. They had been told 3 times and the pilot did right in aborting the takeoff. The crew are there for our safety hense the reason why they do the safety brief and in that breif they cover the fact that all mobile phones should be turned off. Unless the 3 paltroons want to end up dust i suggest they turn there phone off as they pass through the gate onto the stairs or jet bridge. I always turn mine off as i am walking towards the entrance of the plane
By: Arabella-Cox - 1st February 2008 at 16:59
i really wish they would arrest all the morons who use their phones in the clearly marked quiet carriages on first great western trains when i use them !
AND THE very thought of future mobile phone use on a plane inflight makes me shudder…
i really cannot fathom why the move towards this is even gone past someones in tray …. i hope passengers with any sense or standards avoid any carrier that starts this…its bad enough in a bus or a restaurant
its vile and most of all BAD mannners.
you DO NOT need to have your phone as a 3rd limb!
its bad enuff seeing almost everyone walking in the street nowadays wandering around aimslessly on the phone let alone sitting next to or near several of them on an aircraft….yuk imagine the stress
and if your gonna tell me and whine to me oh i need my phone soooo bad 24/7 in my sweaty little palm then my heart doesnt bleed for you sorry lol
am i harsh here ? no i am not im just grown up!
By: PMN - 1st February 2008 at 12:10
I’d understand that someone waiting for a call because a relative is in a critical health situation would want to keep the phone on, this is exceptional.
As is actually the case for me at the moment, hence me saying it depends how important a call you’re waiting for.
That said I have two flights on Monday and my phone will, of course, be off. As for the businesspeople who seem reluctant to switch off… That is a constant source of mild annoyance for me when I fly. If I can’t listen to my iPod while taxi’ing to the runway I don’t particularly want to listen to some ignorant fool in a suit talking about sales figures instead.
Paul
By: frankvw - 1st February 2008 at 11:45
Well, iforgetting is one thing, it happens most of the time. And albeit I’d understand that someone waiting for a call because a relative is in a critical health situation would want to keep the phone on, this is exceptional.
Now, someone who isn’t in those categories considers he is too important to turn the phone off, he also should be in a position to afford a private jet, or his company would. And if not, especially on European travels, there are trains and cars.
On a GA plane for instance, a cellphone searching for network can be very annoying in the ears, so, yes, there’s a good reason to turn it off there too.
By: PMN - 1st February 2008 at 00:18
Do people really need their phones to be on 24/7 ?
I guess that depends on how important a phone call you’re waiting for. I admit, I generally keep my phone on until the doors are shut but it’s always off during the flight (except for one flight last year sometime when I noticed it was still on as we were climbing out of the airport, but forgetting one time in 160+ flights isn’t too bad I don’t suppose).
Paul
By: frankvw - 30th January 2008 at 07:46
Good !
Last year, I was on a flight from Geneva to Brussels, and there was a +/- 60 year old man (incidentally, also Italian), businessman type, who started being rude and making a scandal at boarding, when the gate agent told him that his “carry on” had to go in the hold (I haven’t seen something that large, even in the US). He of course refused, and started calling her names, but the professional gate agent still had his luggage put in the hold, while keeping a smile.
On the same plane, the guy kept being on the phone, nearly till we started the takeoff roll, and never turned off his cellphone, continuing to send text messages later (and he had one of those annoying ringones, of course).
I was hoping for customs to give him a thourough check in Brussels, which unfortunately didn’t happen.
Do people really need their phones to be on 24/7 ? Planes might be the last place where you aren’t bothered by them, and I hope they stay banned for as long as possible.
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January 30, 2008 at 4:50 am