AA captain: Austistic girl may leave her iPad on during takeoff, says rule is "ridiculous"

[FWAAA]

AA pilot does the right thing. Autistic girl uses her iPad to communicate and was told by FA on LAX-YYZ flight that she had to turn it off before takeoff. Pilot eventually overruled the FA:

Because the iPad is Carly's voice, it is paramount that she be able to use it, Dalal said. "If she was about to have a seizure, there is no way she could tell me without her iPad," he said.

In airplane mode, Fleischmann's iPad is fully operational for her communication needs. Dalal said that in Fleischmann's opinion, forcing her to turn off her iPad is akin to handcuffing a deaf person's hands to their chair.

The flight attendant who approached Fleischmann was eventually overruled by the pilot, who said Fleischmann could leave her iPad on. Dalal said they met up with the pilot again at customs in Toronto, and he told Dalal and Fleischmann that the policy was "ridiculous." Further, Dalal said the pilot said the pilots themselves use iPads during takeoff and landing.

http://abcnews.go.co...ory?id=17020316
I don't blame the FAs - they're told their role is to be Nurse Ratched-type rule enforcers. But good for the pilot for overruling the government-required nonsense rule the FAs are forced to try to enforce.

 

[WorldTraveler]

... esp. since there is a move underway to do away w/ the rule anyway.

Safety announcements and requirements on US airlines are clearly overboard compared w/ those on airlines in other countries - and they manage to get to their destination w/o being told you can't put laptops in seat pockets etc.

 

[Deleted member 17588]

... esp. since there is a move underway to do away w/ the rule anyway.

Safety announcements and requirements on US airlines are clearly overboard compared w/ those on airlines in other countries - and they manage to get to their destination w/o being told you can't put laptops in seat pockets etc.

Laptops in seatback pockets are an entirely unrelated issue. If the airplane jostles and shakes violently during an emergency landing, a rough, normal landing, or a rough, turbulent takeoff, you don't want laptops flying out of seatback pockets and walloping you in the head.

 

[WorldTraveler]

yes, I realize that but the list of what US airlines expect require their passengers to do is getting a little excessive.

Passengers in other countries are subjected to the same dangers but passengers aren't subjected to a litany of things to do/not do.

Specific to the topic at hand, the fact that crewmembers are now using EFBs in the cockpit should be confirmation enough that there is no basis for the rule regarding turn ALL electronics off - and not just airplane mode.

 

[wcs]

yes, I realize that but the list of what US airlines expect require their passengers to do is getting a little excessive.

Why don't you change that to read;
... list of what US airlines expect the F.A.A. require(s) their passengers to do...