Electronic Equipment - On Board use

Kim F · #1 30th March 2009, 11:16 AM

My wife when flying wears a pair of Bose noise cancelling headphones. When the cabin crew do their pre takeoff check of the cabin, they normally ask her to turn them off as they think she has them plugged into a a ipod or similar. When she explains that they are not plugged into anything, they leave her be.

On a recent flight on a SIA A380, one of the cabin crew was insistant that she turn it off as it was electrical equipment. While I tried to bury myself under my cushion, my wife was equally insistant that she didn't need to. It seems to me a little grey area.

I would be interested in what members think.

David M · #2 30th March 2009, 01:21 PM

Hi Kim,

I can understand you thinking it's a little grey area, however I'd say it is still classified as a piece of electronic equipment. Although some airlines may let you get away with using them, others may not. I guess this is determined by the policy and procedure for each particular airline.

The issue some airlines may have with them being on, is the inability for the user to hear any commands given to them by the cabin crew should there be an emergency at the most critical phase of flight - take-off and landing. Nothing like yelling brace commands and people are saying "what?" Also, you may not be able to hear the safety demonstration while wearing your headphones, and personally it is very rude to sit with headphones on while someone is explaining how you can survive in an accident.

Cheers

David.M.

Hugh Jarse · #3 30th March 2009, 05:35 PM

Kim F,

The reason your wife is asked to turn them off is for the reason David M explained in his second paragraph.

Why does your wife wear a pair of noise cancelling headsets not plugged into anything? That's confusing. The noise in an aircraft cabin is not exactly a threat to one's hearing....

If the headsets are not plugged into anything, then she would have difficulty listening to the safety briefing.

Therefore, she should take them off.

Kim F · #4 30th March 2009, 06:01 PM

thanks for your replies to date. Qantas actually address this in their FAQ's. They say there is no problem having them on, if they are plugged into the aircrafts entertainment system. She wears them as she doesn't like the level of the ambient noise in flight. So not sure whether she can wear them during takeoff on a DASH 8!

Andrew McLaughlin · #5 30th March 2009, 06:03 PM

Bose headsets have AAA batteries in them so the noise cancelling thing, if switvhed on the side of one of the headphones, still works whether they're plugged in or not...

But more or less backing up what David said...if a flight attendant tells you to turn something off, then there can be NO "grey area!"

Greg McDonald · #6 30th March 2009, 06:34 PM

I can definitely understand the confusion though. It would be really nice (not to mention sensible) if there was a definitive list of items that you can/cannot turn on while in flight. And I mean a list that ALL airlines HAVE to abide by. I think its ridiculous that some airlines will allow some items where others will not when there should be a SCIENTIFICALLY VALID reason for the decisions being made, not just some executive having a guess as to what may affect an aircrafts performance and what may not.
It's the same as taking photos with a digital camera both in flight and on the tarmac. Some airlines will allow it and others won't. No reasons are given....no common sense is involved!!

Hugh Jarse · #7 30th March 2009, 06:40 PM

Basically, NO is the answer in the Dash, Kim, because there is nothing to plug it into, and she won't hear the PA..

To amplify Andrew's post, a safety direction from a cabin crew member is a lawful instruction. I'm not sure how many "penalty points" disobeying a lawful instruction is worth these days to our revenue raisers.

Whatever it is, I don't have any spare cash

Kim F · #8 30th March 2009, 07:28 PM

you guys haven't met my wife !

Greg McDonald · #9 30th March 2009, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew

Do you really think an 'executive' created the policy and qualified what can and cannot be used...

In a word...Yes. It sure wasn't anyone with any scientific knowledge or, in a lot of cases, common sense.

I'm not for a minute saying you should disobey any and all instructions...I'm just saying it would be nice to have a unified approach for all carriers.

Adam G · #10 30th March 2009, 08:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg McDonald

In a word...Yes. It sure wasn't anyone with any scientific knowledge or, in a lot of cases, common sense.

I'm not for a minute saying you should disobey any and all instructions...I'm just saying it would be nice to have a unified approach for all carriers.

Greg - different carriers have different requirements as they operate differently. This maybe because of the way they board/disembark aircraft (some do so through the rear door adding extra complexities) while some don't, it maybe due to different types of turnarounds & therefore different timings in refuelling, it maybe due to different aircraft types & therefore different manufacturer recommendations, it could also be due to aircraft being registered outside of Aust & therefore subject to slightly different regulations. It can be as simple as one airline may understand the regulations/manufacturer recommendations in one way while another may read them slightly differently resulting in slight procedure differences. Of course staff are also human so there may be slight differences in understandings of the manuals between different staff.

At the end of the day it's not in the best interests of any "executive" or staff to try & make passengers lives more difficult - after all the passengers pay the executives & staff's salaries! They are just trying to be fully compliant & safe.