Who is responible for flight safety..?

[fgummett]

Yeterday I was flying home to to Nova Scotia from a working trip to Mississippi. On the flight from Atlanta to Boston I sat next to a guy in the exit row over the wing. He had his I-Pod going (so loud I can hear it over the engines) and his Blackberry mobile phone/e-mail thingy on... even frequently checking his messages. Anyhow the plane gets ready to leave and as usual they announce twice that all electronic devices must be turned off for departure. As we start to taxi he has still not turned either device off so I politely remind him... he says he is not turning them off. I call this to the attention of the flight attendant. She just asks him to turn them off and walks away without seeing what he does next... he does not turn either of them off. By this time we are nearly ready to take off so I'm thinking that if I make a fuss the flight may be delayed and perhaps I would be taken off the plane for causing a disturbance... so I just bit my tongue and kept quiet... even when later in the flight he pulls out a bottle of water! Needless to say I kept an eye on him the whole flight and there was no way he was getting past me to the washroom with his bottle and either of the electronic devices!

What do you all think..? Should I have said anything at all or just minded my own business... should I have made more fuss..?

I was not impressed with the flight attendants attitude, especially when I thought I was doing the right thing.

I had heard that maybe the requirement to turn of Portable Electronic Devices (PEDs) was maybe just a myth but today did some internet research and it does seem that studies by the FAA, FCC and even NASA have concluded that there is a real risk of radio interference with the navigation GPS controls and other cockpit systems. For example : http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/mar06/3069

[hyunelan2]

They are actually going to lift the ban on electronic devices, as they have overcome what formerly caused many of the problems. I think the date for the change is supposed to be sometime in 2007. They were telling us about it when we were flying out to Vegas. I don't think you had anything to really be fearful of, but that is BS that the guy would not follow the rules. They should have tazered him and made him eat that Ipod.

what airline was this?

[WytchDctr]

Faa?????

[fgummett]

It was Delta airlines.

The article I linked to does mention that the FCC is thinking about lifting the rules but based on their testing they advise strongly against this. "They" being, "IEEE Spectrum magazine is the flagship publication of the IEEE, the world's largest professional technology association. It is a monthly magazine for technology innovators, business leaders, and the intellectually curious. Spectrum explores future technology trends and the impact of those trends on society and business."

[BlueRush]

EVERYONE is responsible for flight safety, from ground crew, to passengers. I would immediatly hit the call button the instant the flight attendant walked away. Just think about this:

BECAUSE OF SOME ASSHOLE YOU COULD BE DEAD!!!

Just my 2 cents.

[subvibe99]

When you got off of the plane you should have asked the flight attendants name, reported it immediately at the ticket counter, and got yourself a voucher for another flight. Showing honest concern in those situations usually works out in your favor as long as your not one of those people who will explode on a customer service rep. when you can't get your way.

[Alucardabyss]

Delta sucks anyways, when I flew home from Germany we got delayed and missed our flight (at 10AM) we waited all day and they said "sorry but you are going to have to wait till tomorow." They took us and about 50 other people to some crap hotel. Then the next day we were assured we would be on the next flight to Pheonix. We weren't but we eventually got on one at 3:00PM. bad times never flying with Delta ever again.

[rckozma]

Faa?????

That would be the correct answer. Each individual airport has an entity in place that would be just before the FAA, Orlando's is GOAA (Greater Orlando Aviation Authority).

As many have said before, I would have kept hitting the call button until the attendant made sure he turned them off. But I would have also been more concerned about him having a bottle of water on the flight. Do you remember his seat number? You can still report him to the FAA if you have his seat number.