Turn off Your Ipod and Cell Before Takeoff= Bull!

"There is no evidence that iPods and other non-communications devices could do the same. But David Carson, a Boeing associate technical fellow who co-chaired a special committee the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration asked to evaluate the use of portable electronic devices, said the government has not yet done sufficient research to permit them during the most sensitive segments of flights."

The US Airways flight attendant told U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer to turn off his cellphone before takeoff. Schumer called her a "bitch."

Very bad. Schumer apologized on Wednesday. But the sentiment that prompted his epithet – how dare you pry me from my hand-held device, you relentlessly-polite-yet-ferocious airline employee – is widespread. And, unlike the b-word, it might, in the case of iPods and similar devices, be justified.

Transport Canada bans iPods during takeoff and landing. The reason, said spokesperson Maryse Durette, is that "passengers are required to listen to the safety briefings that are given prior to takeoff and landing." So passengers may ignore these briefings by, for example, napping, whispering, or sticking their fingers in their ears. Those ears must only be devoid of earbuds.

To at least one veteran Los Angeles-based pilot, who flies 737s for a U.S. airline, this is flighty logic. He had thought takeoff and landing prohibitions were prompted by concerns over potential radiation interference with pilots' instruments.

"I find it absurd," said the pilot, who requested anonymity for fear of a scolding from his employer. "It sounds ridiculous."

A younger pilot for another U.S. airline said he did not much care about the existence or non-existence of the iPod ban, but he offered two justifications for it.

During emergencies, he said, passengers must not be distracted as flight attendants give them instructions. And when takeoffs are aborted, forcing pilots to stop at high speeds, "the iPod will be pulled from your hand right away, and it'll go flying."

Both pilots said it is possible that the use of cellphones will significantly interfere with flight instruments. There is no evidence that iPods and other non-communications devices could do the same. But David Carson, a Boeing associate technical fellow who co-chaired a special committee the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration asked to evaluate the use of portable electronic devices, said the government has not yet done sufficient research to permit them during the most sensitive segments of flights.

"Anything that comes on an airplane, we want to make sure that it's proven to be safe – to the extent that for millions of departures per year, and thousands of different airplane configurations, you can predict that they'll be safe," Carson said.

A widely discussed Dec. 7 post on the technology blog Gizmodo, in which author Joel Johnson acerbically challenged the iPod ban, was titled "Can My iPod Make This Airplane Explode?"

Carson did not suggest that iPods could explode a Boeing. He said, however, that the government must test the ability of various planes to withstand iPods' unintentional radiation.

"It sounds kind of silly to say `withstand the radiation of an iPod,' because it is pretty low. But you have to know that."