Ask the Captain: The debate about in-flight electronics continues

— -- Question: Captain, thank you so much for dedicating your time to educate everyone concerning electronic devices. I am a flight attendant, and I can honestly say the biggest challenge I face daily is obtaining compliance from passengers concerning their electronic devices. FAA is the BOSS of air transportation! Whatever studies they have conducted and rules they have made based on those studies should be enough for someone to understand the safety of a flight. Just because passengers, have no proof they do interfere, they have decided that gives them the authority to break the rules. Are we waiting for that day when a fatal accident happens and just one of the reasons was interference from an electronic device?

And let's just set the opinions of the passengers aside. What happened to following rules and obeying the law (failure to comply breaks two Federal Aviation Rules, the one that states they must be turned off, and the other failure to comply with a crewmember instruction). I would never dream of going to someone elses work place and tell them how to do their job, challenge their authority, or break their company rules, especially if other people are directly involved. When rules of the road are violated, we are hit with citations. I would love to see FAA give flight attendants the authority to issue citations as well. When you board my flight, I expect you to follow the rules set forth by the FAA. Otherwise, I'm pretty sure Greyhound still operates!

-- submitted by reader FAJan

Answer: You face a tough task with the proliferation of electronic devices flying on airplanes today. It seems almost everyone travels with something electronic. Flight crews do not make the rules, but are required to enforce them. Passengers with complaints or recommendations regarding the use of electronic devices (or any other matter regarding aviation) should direct their comments to the FAA. Compliance with the rules, including following lawful crewmember instructions, is mandatory. A crewmember, and/or the airline, can be fined by the FAA for failure to enforce the rules. Passengers who refuse to comply with the rules can be removed from a flight. Unfortunately, I have had to have the police remove more than one passenger for refusing to comply with Federal Aviation Regulations.

The debate of whether certain electronic devices should be allowed to be operated in flight is one that will certainly continue.

It is up to the FAA to decide if a change to the current regulation is warranted. Until there is a rule change passengers should realize that flight crewmembers are doing the job they are required to do.

Q: United Airlines is replacing paper in the cockpits with iPads. Since pilots reference geographical content during or near to approach, why is it OK for the "front office" to use electronic devices at times they would normally not be available to the passenger? Also, if microvolt emf (electromagnetic emissions) can affect ILS (instrument landing) instrumentation, how is the EMF induced by the various high power electronics in use at airports - radar, ILS radios, general purpose radio signals, etc. all of which are capable of creating microvolt level EMF?