Different airlines have different aeroplanes with different aircrew - all different situations.
It may well be a hazard to use a particular item on a particular aircraft at a particular time. Safety is of paramount importance and should NOT be compromised.
The thing that is (and no doubt will continue to be) confusing for passengers is WHY a particular item of kit may not be used. If you wag your finger and say "DON'T do that, you naughty, bad person!", people will react, but not necessarily in the way in which you hope or expect.
If you say "we advise that you don't do that, because there is a risk of this happening..." then the response will be more favourable and the instructions will usually be complied with. If they are not, then read the riot act / call plod etc, as you suggest.
On a recent flight with Braathens in Norway, I requested that the F/A ask the Captain if I would be permitted to use a GPS12 during the cruise. She went to the flight deck, asked and returned with a polite but negative response. No problem.
On an earlier flight from ABZ to LHR the Captain responded with an invitation to visit the flight deck so that he could have a 'play' with it. He gave the impression that he considered the SkymapII better than the kit they had! (Should I be worried by this?)
Last week on an SAS flight the same request for use of a GPS12 was met with a decidedly frosty response. The F/A strode up to the flight deck, drew the curtains closed, whipped them open again 2 secs later and strode back with a curt "Absolutely not! ...the Captain say's it's interferring with the flight instruments".
1- she didn't even have time to ask the question, let alone give the Captain time to check or even give a response, and
2- it wasn't actually turned on at the time !
Where a written tech. recommendation states "...transmitters must not be used..." it seems it is often translated into "..items with an antenna may not be used..". This is then taken to mean items which include a receiver or a transmitter, be it in a radio or other piece of equipment. What was the famous misheard instruction? "...gone to a dance, send three & fourpence..".
As previous postings have stated, the FCC classification should be sufficient clearance for the equipment to be used. Now, it may be that a single unit does not emit sufficient radiated power to cause a problem. Can the same be said of several (ten/twenty) units all operated in close proximity? (Has any study been done into the collective output power of 400 digital wristwatch alarms going off at the same time?).
If the reason for the ban is actually that the aircrew do not wish people to know where they are....well!
Maybe it's just easier to say 'No'? It contains only two letters as opposed to the three in 'yes'.
On the subject of potential hijackers / suicides etc; if they wish to, they will probably use a GPS anyway, regardless of the F/A's announcements. 6ft 180lb Guy with a firearm and an attitude, versus 5ft 110 lb hostie with a pointy finger. Hmmm - who do you think will be taking more notice of the other?
As I said earlier safety is not a matter for negotiation. If various items of equipment pose a hazard during certain phases of the flight, then they should not be used and the reasoning made clear.
Where it is plain that they do not, then where is the problem? What EVERYONE needs is reliable and accurate information, not a rap on the knuckles at morning assembly and a blanket ban because......well, just....BECAUSE!
Anyone from Garmin, Magellan, Bendix/Skyforce et al care to comment? How about you guys at Boscombe?
Can anyone explain why cassette players are O.K. yet CDs and MiniDisc players cause a problem? I would have thought that the older power-hungry cassette players would whack out more radiated energy than a CD or MD.
