New TSA rules ban notebooks, Wi-Fi in late flight
updated 11:50 am EST, Mon December 28, 2009
International flights get reactionary security
The US Transport Security Administration late Sunday implemented new rules that are likely to have far-reaching implications for technology on planes. The security measures will ban those on international flights entering the US from having any "personal belongings" on their laps for the final hour of the flight, restricting notebooks and most other non-handheld devices. Access to carry-on bags is similarly restricted for the same period.
They also preclude use of any communications or entertainment integrated with the plane itself for the final hour of the trip. The step not only restricts traditional services for passengers like phones and seat-mounted TV but also shuts down Wi-Fi services provided by carriers entering the US.
Strictly domestic flights aren't affected by the restrictions and would let carriers like AirTran and Virgin America continue to offer services for nearly all of a given trip.
The TSA guidelines follow a failed attempt by a Nigerian man to use chemical explosives to bomb a flight inbound from Amsterdam and are accompanied by measures like required pat-downs and personal property inspections. Critics have already charged that the measures are "knee-jerk" measures that would do little to stop either the latest attack or other determined measures, such as an attack before the last hour of a long international flight. [via BoardingArea]
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Joined: Aug 2001
Out of control
Feels like we are back in the fear slinging Bush era again. There is NO WAY to make flying or any other form of travel 100% safe. I travel to Europe a few time per year and I only hope that this panic dissipates in the next few months. Sure I can live without my laptop on a flight but the shut down of the entertainment on a 9 hour flight is excessive. One fear is that having a map on screen will alert potential terrorist when they are above US targets. Well you don't have to be a genius to look out a window after flying a certain time to estimate what you are looking at below. I guess gluing the windows shut will be the next step. Someone screwed up letting this man board a flight to the US, humans will always make mistakes you cannot eliminate that from the equation. For a feeling of safety people are willing to sacrifice being treated like paying customers and human beings.