FAA: Our cell phone rule is not changing
Airline passengers are getting a temporary reprieve from those who wish to introduce in-flight cell phone
service on U.S. airlines. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has said it's considering lifting
its current ban on using cell phones in the air, but the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) doesn't
appear interested, reports The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (free registration). "Let me be clear:
Regardless of the FCC proceeding, the FAA's rules will remain," the FAA's Nicholas Sabatini said at a
House aviation subcommittee hearing into the use of cell phones and other wireless devices on
commercial airline flights. But, Sabatini wouldn't rule out a change in the future. "If an air carrier has met
our safety requirements, the carrier may permit such use" on a case-by-case basis, he said. Meanwhile,
if such devices are ultimately permitted in flight, federal law enforcement officials want to tap into the
communications to monitor for suspicious e-mail, according to USA TODAY. Justice Department officials
testified they're concerned terrorists could use air-to-ground cell or broadband service to launch attacks,
or that wireless service could be used to detonate a bomb aboard an airliner.
Blow gun, bullwhip and power saws turn up
Here's a good find from the seemingly unending subject of "crazy things people try to get tried to carry
on a blowgun with darts and a bullwhip. Both items were brought to security on the same day, reports
The Cleveland Plain Dealer, which adds that "for every blowgun confiscated at airport security
checkpoints, thousands of butane lighters are surrendered; for every bullwhip, there are buckets of
penknives." In addition to the 18,850 lighters confiscated at Cleveland so far this year, airport security
there also has taken possession of 2,780 tools "such as screwdrivers, hatchets and, yes, power saws,"
according to a list compiled by The Plain Dealer. Most offending travelers aren't bent on malicious
behavior, says the TSA's Rick DeChant, who supervises screening operations at the Ohio airports of
Cleveland, Akron-Canton, Toledo and Youngstown. Despite post-9/11 publicity about airport security
rules, he says most passengers aren't familiar with the rules, or they simply forget they're carrying
forbidden items.
Fliers beware of the 'outhouse seat'
The worst seat on an airplane may not actually be a middle seat, nor the seats in the back of the plane. In
fact, this seat is reputedly so bad it's become something of an urban legend — though this legend seems to
be true. The seat in question is seat 29E on a particular Continental Airlines flight, a seat about which one
passenger wrote an angry letter — complete with illustrations — to the airline. The gripe? The flier claims
the seat was located directly across from the jet's lavatory, something that subjected him to all kinds of
unpleasantries. "Is it the stench of the sanitation fluid that is blown all over my body every 60 seconds when
the door opens? Is it the whoosh of the constant flushing? Or is it the [passengers' rear ends] that seem to
fit into my personal space like a pornographic jigsaw puzzle," the disgruntled passenger writes about his
Dec. 21 flight from San Diego to Houston. The flier battled the bathroom crowd by erecting what he called
a "stink shield," a blanket hung from the overhead luggage bin to separate him from the lavatory. By now,
you may have heard of this man's letter of complaint, which has been widely circulating on the Internet and
was subject to urban-legend "truth-squadding" by Snopes.com. Some frequent fliers have also been
speculating about the letter in online forums, with some suggesting that either the seat in question does not
exist — or that perhaps the disgruntled flier wrote the wrong seat number. But, today, the letter is the subject
of Keith L. Alexander's "Business Class" column in The Washington Post. A Continental spokesman told
Alexander that the airline contacted the aggrieved flier to apologize. "If there were a quick and easy
solution to his concern, we would do it in a whiz," the spokesman tells Alexander. "Notwithstanding the
embellished humor in the letter, we don't pooh-pooh any of our customers' concerns, and have apologized."
Other passengers have taken notice. Ana Luisa Aldana, a San Francisco management consultant, tells
Alexander that she checks seatguru.com before a flight to make sure she doesn't get stuck in the
"outhouse seat."
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