Our multitasking society is almost too good at doing many things at once. We can work and listen to music, GChat with friends and send them group picture messages, all the while, eating a sandwich and checking Twitter.
For many, texting while driving was also a popular multitask, until millions of car crashes led almost every state in the U.S. to outlaw the use of phones while behind the wheel.
Now, lawmakers are questioning whether or not this law should be applied to pilots, who have also suffered the same consequences at the hands of distraction.
According to CNN, a helicopter crashed in 2011 because the pilot was flying with one hand and texting with another. The aircraft lost fuel midair, and the pilot didn't notice-the chopper subsequently crashed, and everyone on board was killed.
The pilot was in deep trouble, to say the least-not only did he violate Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and company rules by using his phone in the air, he also bore responsibility for the lives of all the passengers.
"You can't multitask everything," said former member of the National Transportation Safety Board John Goglia. "To think that you can text and fly, especially a helicopter, is ludicrous. Helicopters require concentration, even more so than many airplanes."
Officials are now considering outlawing any use of personal electronic devices in the cockpit.
The newly proposed rule by the FAA states commercial pilots "would be banned at all times from using a wireless communications device or laptop computer for personal use while at their duty station on the flight deck while the aircraft is being operated."
Any conversation not relating to the flight would also be forbidden during take off and landing.
Above 10,000 feet in the air, however, pilots are allowed to use tablets and laptops.
The FAA will work further on this issue to eventually present a cohesive, all-encompassing law with deals with the issue.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
