WASHINGTON-The Federal Aviation Administration said Thursday morning that the FAA’s rules against the use of wireless devices while airborne will remain in place notwithstanding a proposal from the Federal Communications Commission to lift its ban on devices while on flight.
“Let me be clear. Regardless of the FCC proceeding, the FAA’s rules will remain,” said Nicholas Sabatini, FAA associate administrator for aviation safety.
The FCC in December proposed lifting the ban on wireless devices while in-flight. More than 7,000 comments have been filed with the commission regarding the proposal. Replies are due Aug. 11. One of the commenters was Rep. John Duncan (R-Tenn.) who said he told the FCC, “I hope we don’t lift this ban.”
Duncan is a member of the House Aviation subcommittee, which is examining lifting the cell-phone ban at a Thursday morning hearing, which was continuing at RCRNews.com’s deadline.
