ATA airlines tries to arrest a man for using iPhone in ‘airplane mode’
An ATA airline flight attendant has tried to have a man arrested for using his iPhone while on a flight, even though the device was set to ‘airplane mode.’
The flight attendant asked “Casey” (no surname supplied), who was watching a movie on a flight to Hawaii, to shut off his iPhone, as talking on a cellphone during a flight is banned under Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rules.
Casey tried to explain that he was not talking on the handset, as it was in “airplane mode’, which means that its wireless functionality was disabled.
Despite the explanation, the fight attendant insisted that Casey was breaking FAA rules.
When asked by the Casey what particular rule he was breaking, the attendant gave no answer, but maintained he was breaking FAA rules.
After further discussions with the flight attendant, Casey was escorted off the plane on arrival and arrested.
The authorities, however, decided to release Casey after they found that the flight attendant kept changing his story.
Casey told Consumerist he has already submitted a complaint to ATA.
In a response, Maya Wagle, spokeswoman for ATA Airlines told Vnunet that the airline is currently reviewing its phone-use policy.
“Our existing rules have no clauses relating to the iPhone which, as you know, has been on the market only for the past five months. We are sorry that the passenger was upset. That is the reason we will assess our existing policy.”
Apple’s Web site indicates that “If you turn on airplane mode, the wireless features of the iPhone are disabled, and if allowed by the aircraft operator and applicable laws and regulations, you can continue to use the non-wireless features after takeoff.”
Related Posts:
October 15th, 2007
I don’t understand why the victim (the iphone owner) doesn’t take immediate legal action against all parties involved (the airline and the arresting agency). This is clearly a violation of his rights (false imprisonment – liberty removed without due cause) which is the fault of the airline, the employee of the airline, and the arresting agency. I think they should all be held criminally liable for such actions.