Air travel rules

An interesting article at Stuff on air travel rules:

If I can turn my phone on after landing, why do I need to have my phone off when crossing the tarmac?

“The main reason we identified when looking at Qantas’s phone policy was safety. It’s a rainy day, you’ve got your umbrella up, you’ve got your carry-on, you’re talking on the mobile phone, you hit the bottom step before you realise it’s there – and you’re flat on your face.

Oh how effing stupid. They ban all phone use on the tarmac in case someone is clumsy and slips.

Why can’t I have my phone on during flight?

There was a lot of discussion about whether or not phones would interfere with the navigation equipment. No one has been able to prove that they do and nobody has been able to prove that they don’t. Again at the moment, they are erring on the side of safety.

Pretty hard to prove a negative. I think airlines hide behind the safety excuse. They should just say no phone calls on flights, but other phone use is fine.