The US is relaxing its rules to allow air passengers to listen to music, play video games and watch films on their phones and tablets during takeoffs and landings.
The change allowing the use of electronic devices from gate-to-gate will not, however, extend to making mobile phone calls during flights.
Connections to the internet to surf, exchange emails, text or download data will also still be banned below 10,000 feet and heavier devices like laptops will have to be stowed.
Passengers will be told to switch their smartphones, tablets and other devices to airplane mode.
The US Federal Aviation Authority confirmed the move last night, although it will be up to individual airlines to decide how soon to meet the new criteria.
The change will mean that on transatlantic flights British passengers will be able to use their gadgets as they land on American soil. However, when they take off from Britain they will not be able to do so.
Under rules drawn up by the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority, electronic devices cannot be used during taxi, takeoff and landing on all fights entering or leaving British airspace.
However the rules could also change in Britain and across the world if the American research is shown to be credible.
An American travel industry group welcomed the changes yesterday, calling them common-sense accommodations for a traveling public now bristling with technology.
‘We’re pleased the FAA recognizes that an enjoyable passenger experience is not incompatible with safety and security,” said Roger Dow, CEO of the U.S. Travel Association.
Air safety officials backed the changes after agreeing that the electronic gadgets do not interfere with navigation systems and that data used to draw up the ban - typically imposed in aircraft across the world - was from back in the 1960s when such devices were very different.
Phones are excluded in the rule change because they were not involved in the FAA research, although safety officials are now expected to look at this issue separately.
The original rules in the US were written in 1966 when it was thought that electromagnetic interference from computers and other devices could cause problems with navigation systems on board the plane.
Nowadays passenger jets are ‘much more tolerant’ to such interference and the gadgets themselves are much safer.
The report says that this is because they use less power, transmit weaker signals and ‘stay within a tighter range of frequencies’.
One key factor behind the US decision has been the sheer number of air passengers ignoring the rules. One survey found that, by accident or on purpose, one third of passengers had left their gadgets on when they should be turned off.
The CAA in the UK is said to be ‘monitoring’ the situation.
据英国媒体11月1日报道，美国联邦航空局（FAA）日前出台新规定，航空乘客获准用手机或平板电脑听音乐、玩游戏及看电影，但需要调到“飞行模式”。不过乘客在整个飞行过程中仍将被禁止打电话。
飞机在1万英尺（约合3000米）以下的高空时仍不允许上网、收发电邮或短信、以及下载数据，而且笔记本电脑等比较重的电子设备必须收起来。
尽管新规定得到美国联邦航空局的证实，但局长迈克尔•韦尔塔称，新规推行时间还要由各个航空公司自行决定。
对于乘坐跨大西洋航班的英国乘客来说，新规意味着，他们可以在抵达美国领土时在飞机上使用电子设备，而从英国领土起飞时不可以这样做。
根据英国民航管理局的规定，在飞机起飞和降落时均不可以使用电子设备。如果美国的新规证明是可行的，那么英国、甚至全世界都可能改变相应的航空规定。
美国旅游协会对新规表示欢迎，认为这样调整符合常识。“我们很高兴美国联邦航空局认识到一次愉快的旅途与飞行安全并非不相容。”该协会的首席执行官罗杰•道说。
一些航空安全官员认为电子产品不干扰导航系统，因此支持更改规定。之前对电子产品的禁令是根据上世纪60年代的数据制定的，当时的设备与如今的产品完全不同。研究报告显示，现代的电子设备耗电量较低，传输信号较弱，频率范围更小。
解禁的另一个主要原因是，很多乘客实际上忽视禁止规定。一份调查发现，三分之一的乘客在电子设备应该关闭时仍然让它们保持打开的状态。