ILS & electronic devices - new rules ?

[k3lvc]

I'm used to the vagueries of different airlines policies on use of electronic devices during take off/landing but yesterdays Flybe flight into CDG came up with a new one on me.

Cabin crew announcement that due to poor visibility we would be landing using the ILS and under European rules this meant that all handheld electronic devices must be switched off (not just flightsafe mode) - cabin crew then proceed down cabin asking to see all devices and ensure they're fully switched off.

Is there such a 'rule' that's newly established

[VariablePitchP]

I'm used to the vagueries of different airlines policies on use of electronic devices during take off/landing but yesterdays Flybe flight into CDG came up with a new one on me.

Cabin crew announcement that due to poor visibility we would be landing using the ILS and under European rules this meant that all handheld electronic devices must be switched off (not just flightsafe mode) - cabin crew then proceed down cabin asking to see all devices and ensure they're fully switched off.

Is there such a 'rule' that's newly established

Which aircraft was it? If it was an autoland then yes that’s normal procedures to properly turn phones etc off. Assuming it’s a Dash, not 100% they can autoland, sure someone will correct me but for the Embraer that would likely have been it.

Could also be for a Cat II approach to a manual landing (again, not Flybe or Dash 8 but some airlines will manually land off a Cat II approach). Pretty much anything beyond a normal Cat I approach will require these procedures; in the same way that the airfield itself has to have its ILS area properly protected and LVP Ops in force.

I suspect the cabin crew just said ILS because that’s what they got told, every landing pretty much is a Cat I ILS so it won’t just have been for that, it’ll have been for something more precise.

[k3lvc]

Which aircraft was it? If it was an autoland then yes that’s normal procedures to properly turn phones etc off. Assuming it’s a Dash, not 100% they can autoland, sure someone will correct me but for the Embraer that would likely have been it.

Could also be for a Cat II approach to a manual landing (again, not Flybe or Dash 8 but some airlines will manually land off a Cat II approach). Pretty much anything beyond a normal Cat I approach will require these procedures; in the same way that the airfield itself has to have its ILS area properly protected and LVP Ops in force.

I suspect the cabin crew just said ILS because that’s what they got told, every landing pretty much is a Cat I ILS so it won’t just have been for that, it’ll have been for something more precise.

Believe an Embraer 175 so maybe that fits - just never seen it before in 500+ sectors with AF/KLM

[Denti]

Believe an Embraer 175 so maybe that fits - just never seen it before in 500+ sectors with AF/KLM
It is indeed an EASA rule as far as i know. In all airlines i have worked in it is the same thing. For me on 737 and A320 series, whenever low vis is in use, ask passengers to switch off their electronic devices, not just flight mode. Low vis is not that often the case, in general more often during autumn and winter.

[wiggy]

Another voting for it (from memory) as being a fairly longstanding EASA requirement.

I suspect the cabin crew just said ILS because that’s what they got told, every landing pretty much is a Cat I ILS so it won’t just have been for that, it’ll have been for something more precise.

^^This...Telling most of your passengers that it's being done because you are about to fly a CATIII B ILS, or something equally mysterious rather than a standard CAT I ILS is going to leave most of the audience going :confused:, some of the more nervous perhaps going :ooh: :{ if they hear phrases such as "blind landing" and only a few if any, nodding their heads sagely.

TBF it's not a distinction most cabin crew would be aware either, it's not their job. I'm a great believer in the philosophy that there are times when there is no point in going beyond using a vaguely correct technical term to get the job done/point across.