You might be allowed to make that last move on Words With Friends, or finish downloading Justin Timberlake's new album on airplanes, as the Federal Aviation Administration is considering knocking off the "power down" rule during takeoffs and landings.
By the end of the year, airlines may allow electronic reading devices like Kindles to be turned on airplane mode for the entire flight, two FAA anonymous sources told the New York Times.
Fliers have long wondered whether or not having an electronic device on is truly detrimental to the plane's intricate wiring setup. Science correspondent and pilot Miles O'Brien made an appearance on Anderson Cooper's Podcast Tuesday to shed light on this subject, saying that some of these devices emit virtually no radiation that could conflict with the plane, and this has forced the FAA to create a committee consisting of the public and pilots, who are "trying to apply common sense to rules that some of us have been scratching our heads over," O'Brien said.
"I hear some pilots are even using iPads in the cockpit," Cooper told O'Brien.
"Well, this is when the house of cards started tumbling for the FAA," O'Brien said. "When American Airlines announced they were issuing iPads to all of its flight's crew, so that the people who were closest to the navigational system that is supposed to be affected were holding electronic devices. It forced them to look at it."
The rule will not apply, however, to cell phones. Passengers still cannot make calls, as this interferes with the delicate navigation system with which planes are equipped. Cell phones use systems very close to GPS navigation, which lies too closely to a plane's navigation system. O'Brien wagered that maybe we don't want everyone yammering away on their phones in a plane to begin with.
The FAA will announce mid-Summer which gadgets will be deemed acceptable for takeoff, and the ones that must remain in the off position.
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