<story><title>Fliers Must Turn Off Devices, but It’s Not Clear Why</title><url>http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/disruptions-fliers-must-turn-off-devices-but-its-not-clear-why/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>nickbilton</author><text>As the author of the piece, I have to disagree with you. First, the F.A.A. never used this as a reason when I spoke with them for my story. Second, if that were the case, then why are people allowed to read books, magazines, and play crossword puzzles on paper? Reading a book on a Kindle will not cause more distraction during an emergency than reading one on paper. Thanks, Nick Bilton.</text></item><item><author>Bud</author><text>There is actually a very logical, sensible reason to have everyone power off and stow their devices during takeoff and landing, and this story disappointingly failed to cover it:&lt;p&gt;By far the most likely time for any accidents or incidents to occur is during takeoffs and landings. If everyone has 15 objects out and is busily typing away, it&apos;s going to be tht much more difficult for flight attendants to get everyone&apos;s attention to give instructions, and crucially, much much more difficult to evacuate the plane as quickly as possible.&lt;p&gt;This isn&apos;t controversial, complex or even hard to figure out. It&apos;s the same reason they aren&apos;t serving food and drinks at those times, and the same reason you have to stow your carry-ons and put your tray tables up at these times.&lt;p&gt;Disappointing that the Times did not bother to learn this or to write a more informative story.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>kamechan</author><text>there was a mythbusters on this. if i recall correctly, though they couldn&apos;t find any way to make the plane&apos;s instrumentation fail by bombarding it with a myriad of frequencies, even the mythbusters guys (possibly for legal reasons, or because they succumbed to pressure from their network) concluded that because the FAA can&apos;t rigorously test every device that comes out, that this is somewhat of a blanket policy to ensure that some new device that nobody has tested will be on during takeoff and cause the plane to crash.&lt;p&gt;this said, i never power off my devices...just put them in airplane mode if they have them, or to sleep. i fly a lot, both domestically and internationally.</text></comment>
<story><title>Fliers Must Turn Off Devices, but It’s Not Clear Why</title><url>http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/disruptions-fliers-must-turn-off-devices-but-its-not-clear-why/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>nickbilton</author><text>As the author of the piece, I have to disagree with you. First, the F.A.A. never used this as a reason when I spoke with them for my story. Second, if that were the case, then why are people allowed to read books, magazines, and play crossword puzzles on paper? Reading a book on a Kindle will not cause more distraction during an emergency than reading one on paper. Thanks, Nick Bilton.</text></item><item><author>Bud</author><text>There is actually a very logical, sensible reason to have everyone power off and stow their devices during takeoff and landing, and this story disappointingly failed to cover it:&lt;p&gt;By far the most likely time for any accidents or incidents to occur is during takeoffs and landings. If everyone has 15 objects out and is busily typing away, it&apos;s going to be tht much more difficult for flight attendants to get everyone&apos;s attention to give instructions, and crucially, much much more difficult to evacuate the plane as quickly as possible.&lt;p&gt;This isn&apos;t controversial, complex or even hard to figure out. It&apos;s the same reason they aren&apos;t serving food and drinks at those times, and the same reason you have to stow your carry-ons and put your tray tables up at these times.&lt;p&gt;Disappointing that the Times did not bother to learn this or to write a more informative story.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>marshray</author><text>When I looked into the topic years ago, ISTR finding a few FAA incident reports that &lt;i&gt;did&lt;/i&gt; involve consumer electronics causing harmful interference with cockpit navigation systems. They didn&apos;t result in accidents but seemed well documented.&lt;p&gt;Did you come across anything like that?</text></comment>