View Full Version : Laptop in Cockpit ban?
smallfry
3rd Nov 2009, 20:43
BBC reporting a US Government official wants to knee jerk react to the delta muck up...
BBC NEWS | Americas | US seeks airline pilot laptop ban (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8339797.stm)
oceancrosser
3rd Nov 2009, 20:50
Yeah, US politicians have solutions for everything...
Out with the laptops, bring back the paper manuals... :ugh:
awblain
3rd Nov 2009, 20:52
More fierce competition in the race to be the dumbest US senator.
BYALPHAINDIA
4th Nov 2009, 00:13
Ahh but do the US political 'Puppet heads' know the difference between anything about Aircraft at all?
I bet they can't even tell an Airbus from a Boeing.
The man in the street can.....
How do they expect me to stay awake in there without my laptop or my game-boy? :suspect:
BYALPHAINDIA
4th Nov 2009, 00:43
Lol, Unless you are riding with Glamourous C Crew?
Their few & far between now.
Some are barely past the 6th form!!
Here's the latest version inspired by NW188. (http://www.thefump.com/embedded_player.swf?fumpID=1236)
And we thought Bush was a moron!
Spooky 2
4th Nov 2009, 01:26
Guys you have to rember, you cannot fix stupid and most of the US Govt. fits that description. :}
vapilot2004
4th Nov 2009, 03:11
The US government will do what they always do ala 11 Sept.
Too much, too late.
Can't fix stupid - I agree. But come on, lap dances in the cockpit? Crap, can you wheel those down to F or J?
Oops, lap tops? Sorry guys!
Ozzy
yeah it's been some time
stilton
4th Nov 2009, 07:31
They are already 'banned' in the cockpit for personal use with us. Maybe they could ban them X 2...
Groundloop
4th Nov 2009, 08:45
That will be interesting for those who use the Boeing, Airbus, Jeppesen etc Laptop paperless flight deck!
Read the last paragraph of the article.
Checkboard
4th Nov 2009, 09:28
Don't even have to bother with the last, read the first paragraph!
A US senator is seeking a law banning computer laptops and other personal electronic devices in airline cockpits to prevent pilots becoming distracted.
More fierce competition in the race to be the dumbest US senator.
That will be interesting for those who use the Boeing, Airbus, Jeppesen etc Laptop paperless flight deck!Race to the bottom for the dumbest PPRuNer :rolleyes:
merlinxx
4th Nov 2009, 12:15
A slight application of not RTFP me thinks:ugh: EFBs not in the sights here.
ivor toolbox
4th Nov 2009, 12:23
its not the politicians to worry 'bout, how about the numpty's in airport security
"Its a laptop and banned"
"er, its the electronic flight bag and tech log"
"looks like a laptop, I'm confiscating it"
you'll have to negotiate with..
ttfn
aguadalte
4th Nov 2009, 13:15
What are you gonna do about it?
We've been witnessing the dismay of the professional pilots pride (all over the world but, especially in the US). What are you waiting for? That, because accidents happen, one of your senators proposes a law to forbid air shows?
As a matter of fact, we're becoming an aseptic society where "everything" is forbidden and where there is no more freedom of choice nor a slight taste for adventure...I think our parents were happier than we are...
"And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years."
Abraham Lincoln
http://blogs.courant.com/capitol_watch/solitaire-500.jpg
US politicians being distracted by laptops while at work ??? Impossible !!
jackharr
4th Nov 2009, 13:53
If American politicians are anything like British ones, any professional (eg a respected senior pilot) who gives advice that doesn’t fit in with the government’s pre-conceived ideas faces not just being ignored but being SACKED.
Jack
javelin
4th Nov 2009, 14:46
Jack,
Sadly, that excellent quip will be lost on 90% of the readership of this thread, sniff, snort..... and exhale. Aaaaargh :eek:
Groundloop
4th Nov 2009, 14:52
Don't even have to bother with the last, read the first paragraph!
Quote:
A US senator is seeking a law banning computer laptops and other personal electronic devices in airline cockpits to prevent pilots becoming distracted.
And the last paragraph is:-
"The new bill intends to make an exception only for those laptops containing navigational tools issued to pilots by some airlines, the senator added. "
plain-plane
4th Nov 2009, 14:53
You can always trust the (US) government to do the right thing…
After they have tried everything else
Company only issues manuals on a CD… in the future I will be looking a lot more at manuals in-flight… not sure what windows will be open in the background though.
Clandestino
4th Nov 2009, 15:07
How is this supposed to be enforced?
1) As Ivor Toolbox mentioned, by security personnel confiscating suspicious equipment?
2) By FAA inspectors searching flightbags for IPods during ramp checks?
3) BY NTSB triumphantly announcing that among the charred remains of the aeroplane, captain's IPod was found ergo he didn't follow the rules so crash is plainly pilot's error?
Person who proposed this reminds me of a certain Spanish AFB. It's not Torrejon.
Tinstaafl
4th Nov 2009, 17:00
As written it would seem to exclude PDAs and similar that use weather & mapping software such as Anywhere Map with XM Weather. Also anyone who uses a PED for W&B, performance calcs or any other aviation related function. I use my smartphone to store key bits of data about the various aircraft I fly so now what?
Typical political knee jerk reaction: Write an all embracing rule in haste panicked by what are often isolated but high profile incidences and then capture legitimate uses in the net.
oceancrosser
4th Nov 2009, 17:01
But something like this could not happen in the "land of the free"? or wait, could it?
robertbartsch
4th Nov 2009, 17:21
In the U.S., unfortunately, only the president is subject to term limits (two, four year stints) but the Congress members (House and Senate) may serve (???) unlimited terms.
Anyway, term limits for all is overdue and the proposed cockpit lap-top ban is another dumb law that, if enacted, would be un-enforceable.
whazitdoinnow
4th Nov 2009, 22:19
Many accidents on the US roads due to people texting on their phones while driving. Just go figure how many people get injured or killed due to this very stupid and irresponsible behaviour. Why aren't they banning cellphones from cars? Must have something to do with lobbyists.
skeletor
4th Nov 2009, 22:56
At least guns are still allowed though.......suppose that's something to play with!
exdroopnosepilot
4th Nov 2009, 23:27
Not being one entirely up to date with present acronyms, so I am unfamiliar with EFB's or the such like, but I presume they are something akin to the computers that some choose carry about.
Damn lucky in my latter days if one could squeeze more than a flight bag, a copy of the Times, and a pack of Rothmans up front, but lately I've heard that even a quick ciggie is completely out of the question, when previously it was "tolerated."
Next came the "walkabout" ban that was previously an obligotorary duty, and if regulators continue at the same pace, soon I'm sure we will be banned from reading newspapers.
I LOVE corporate!
kappa
11th Nov 2009, 00:53
The first ridicule of the NW188 flight was the many "Top Ten Reasons" lists, followed by the satirical song (http://www.thefump.com/embedded_player.swf?fumpID=1236), and now a "photo" of a Northwest Airbus flight deck (http://theticket-atlanta.com/2009/11/04/photo-of-northwest-airlines-cockpit-joke).
SDFlyer
11th Nov 2009, 03:20
"As a matter of fact, we're becoming an aseptic society where "everything" is forbidden and where there is no more freedom of choice nor a slight taste for adventure...I think our parents were happier than we are..."
Possibly. But let's face it, we're only playing catch-up to most europeans, who lost many of their liberties years ago and didn't even notice. At least over here some people are putting up a rearguard action.
Cheers.
p.s. politicians in the U.S. are less representative of your average Joe and Jane than they are across the pond. Thank goodness.
Quite a few airlines have stopped issuing the operations manuals that we all before carried around in our bags.
These manuals are now stuffed back into a area where we have to get out of our seat and find to look up the required info.
They now rely on the C/D and laptops to get the same info..
Yes there is still the QRH on the flight deck and a limited amount of info on the operations manual concerning systems or a expanded view of the QRH.
The most concern that I see is the Jeps, many airlines expect you to print out the jeps and runway analysis charts from a company provided laptop and on board printer for airports that are not the norm.
This is not the big airlines way of operation but a growing trend in the less than major way of operations.
Yet some how we all let this happen.
Some how those in power cannot see the forest for the trees!!!!
So lets all ban all laptops in the cockpit, we wont have the info we all need , when used properly, but the politicians will be happy.
Charles Darwin
12th Nov 2009, 11:06
I don't see this as a problem, and it never has. Sorry, but the senate is wasting time "solving" a non-problem by perhaps creating a bigger one.
Why don't they issue a directive prohibiting crashes. That'll be a valuable input into flight safety...
FEHERTO
12th Nov 2009, 21:03
It is no problem to lock a PC so that only the company stuff is on it and stays on it without change. This should be the task and not a stupid "ban everything".
But it is clear that it is not a single case what happened in NW, just the most spectacular one.
lear60fellow
12th Nov 2009, 22:46
I would ban pilots from flying because "it´s too dangerous and can cause death", let´s keep them away from the air so we all can be safe.
cwatters
13th Nov 2009, 06:20
Just run the game on your phone instead.
flyingcamel
13th Nov 2009, 18:11
Why don't we ban EFIS and Autopilot while we're at it! Surely that'll eliminate distractions? :ok:
Hold on while I repeatedly slam parts of my anatomy in the ditching dam!
p51guy
14th Nov 2009, 01:12
After Ted Kennedy ran off the bridge with his girlfriend I am surprised congress didn't ban bridges to prevent it from happening again. That would make as much sense as banning laptops. The bridge or the laptop did not cause a risk. Next thing would be banning reading newspapers in the cockpit. How would we be able to stay current on world affairs?