The chair of the Senate Transportation Aviation Subcommittee
says he is working on a bill that would ban all personal electronic
devices in airliner cockpits. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) says the
bill is intended to prevent another incident like the one that
occurred on Northwest Flight 188, which traveled about 150 miles
beyond its intended destination. The pilots told the NTSB that they
did not respond to repeated attempts at contact because they were
distracted by using their laptops and a discussion of company
policy.
Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND)
Dorgan said he intends to introduce the bill in about a week. In
an interview with the Associated Press, he said he was surprised to
learn that the FAA does not specifically ban the use of laptops,
MP3 and DVD players, and other personal electronic devices by
airline pilots. "We now understand from this flight at least that
this can happen and there ought to be a more clear understanding by
everyone in the cockpit that there is a national standard that
would prohibit this and that they need to take it seriously," said
Dorgan.
Dorgan said his bill would include and exception for "electronic
flight bags."
Dorgan says he expects his bill to be folded into a larger
aviation bill already pending before the senate later in the
session. He said he expects no opposition to the measure. A similar
measure is being crafted by Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), and
other Senators have expressed support for the bill.
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