美國民航局解除禁令 乘客可在飛行模式下玩iPad

The US is relaxing its rules to allow air passengers to listen to music, play video games and watch films on their phones and tablets during takeoffs and landings.

The change allowing the use of electronic devices from gate-to-gate will not, however, extend to making mobile phone calls during flights.

Connections to the internet to surf, exchange emails, text or download data will also still be banned below 10,000 feet and heavier devices like laptops will have to be stowed.

Passengers will be told to switch their smartphones, tablets and other devices to airplane mode.

The US Federal Aviation Authority confirmed the move last night, although it will be up to individual airlines to decide how soon to meet the new criteria.

The change will mean that on transatlantic flights British passengers will be able to use their gadgets as they land on American soil. However, when they take off from Britain they will not be able to do so.

Under rules drawn up by the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority, electronic devices cannot be used during taxi, takeoff and landing on all fights entering or leaving British airspace.

However the rules could also change in Britain and across the world if the American research is shown to be credible.

An American travel industry group welcomed the changes yesterday, calling them common-sense accommodations for a traveling public now bristling with technology.

‘We’re pleased the FAA recognizes that an enjoyable passenger experience is not incompatible with safety and security,” said Roger Dow, CEO of the U.S. Travel Association.

Air safety officials backed the changes after agreeing that the electronic gadgets do not interfere with navigation systems and that data used to draw up the ban - typically imposed in aircraft across the world - was from back in the 1960s when such devices were very different.

Phones are excluded in the rule change because they were not involved in the FAA research, although safety officials are now expected to look at this issue separately.

The original rules in the US were written in 1966 when it was thought that electromagnetic interference from computers and other devices could cause problems with navigation systems on board the plane.

Nowadays passenger jets are ‘much more tolerant’ to such interference and the gadgets themselves are much safer.

The report says that this is because they use less power, transmit weaker signals and ‘stay within a tighter range of frequencies’.

One key factor behind the US decision has been the sheer number of air passengers ignoring the rules. One survey found that, by accident or on purpose, one third of passengers had left their gadgets on when they should be turned off.

The CAA in the UK is said to be ‘monitoring’ the situation.據英國媒體11月1日報道，美國聯邦航空局（FAA）日前出臺新規定，航空乘客獲准用手機或平板電腦聽音樂、玩遊戲及看電影，但需要調到“飛行模式”。不過乘客在整個飛行過程中仍將被禁止打電話。

飛機在1萬英尺（約合3000米）以下的高空時仍不允許上網、收發電郵或短信、以及下載數據，而且筆記本電腦等比較重的電子設備必須收起來。

儘管新規定得到美國聯邦航空局的證實，但局長邁克爾•韋爾塔稱，新規推行時間還要由各個航空公司自行決定。

對於乘坐跨大西洋航班的英國乘客來說，新規意味着，他們可以在抵達美國領土時在飛機上使用電子設備，而從英國領土起飛時不可以這樣做。

根據英國民航管理局的規定，在飛機起飛和降落時均不可以使用電子設備。如果美國的新規證明是可行的，那麼英國、甚至全世界都可能改變相應的航空規定。

美國旅遊協會對新規表示歡迎，認爲這樣調整符合常識。“我們很高興美國聯邦航空局認識到一次愉快的旅途與飛行安全並非不相容。”該協會的首席執行官羅傑•道說。

一些航空安全官員認爲電子產品不干擾導航系統，因此支持更改規定。之前對電子產品的禁令是根據上世紀60年代的數據制定的，當時的設備與如今的產品完全不同。研究報告顯示，現代的電子設備耗電量較低，傳輸信號較弱，頻率範圍更小。

解禁的另一個主要原因是，很多乘客實際上忽視禁止規定。一份調查發現，三分之一的乘客在電子設備應該關閉時仍然讓它們保持打開的狀態。