weekilter

We're told Duhamel was on a flight from New York (LGA) to Kentucky -- when, according to sources, the flight attendant asked Duhamel to turn off his BlackBerry before takeoff ... but he refused.

One passenger tells us Duhamel was "very rude" and "taunting the attendant."

We're told the flight attendant asked Josh to turn off the device three separate times -- and on the third time Josh laughed at his request.

We're told Duhamel's reaction infuriated the attendant, who then called for backup -- and the plane, which was already on the runway, was turned back to the gate.

Two US Airways reps eventually boarded the plane and escorted Duhamel off of the aircraft.

We're told passengers were pissed -- because the incident further delayed the flight.

Before boarding the plane, we're told Josh was in the airport bar watching the Cleveland/Miami game.

Duhamel's rep told TMZ Josh was texting on his BlackBerry about his flight being delayed. The rep adds, "He's sorry."

http://www.tmz.com/2010/12/03/josh-d...ngton-kentucky

ByrdluvsAWACO

Shouldn't he be charged with disrupting a flight and fined/sued for the costs of the plane returning to the terminal?

weekilter

He's a celeb. Automatically gives him a free pass.

ByrdluvsAWACO

He's lucky I'm not the district attorney. He'd be facing charges.

N830MH

Yes, he could charges for that. He will charges interference with the cabin crew. He will facing fines from the police. He could get a serious trouble for that. He can't do texting the message at all. The texting message is not permitted during in-flight. All mobile phone should turns it off all of the times. You can't turn it on while you are flying and when you landed into final destinations cities. That mean he can allowed turn it on. He will have followed the flight crew instructions. He should have a warns for that.

KansasMike

While he acted like a jerk, I have a different perspective: Why shouldn't we be allowed to use a Blackberry in flight?

If it is safe for AA and CO to have wi-fi on throughout the flight and if a myriad of devices are used to connect to the wi-fi, then you can't convince me it is somehow "unsafe" for them to be on below 10,000'. Yes, I know that they are erring on the side of "safety" but Boeing and Airbus have bombarded their planes with RF and have never been able to find a problem.

A number of foreign airlines do not have these rules and their jets are hardly falling out of the sky.

It is time to revise the FCC and FAA rules.

Efrem

Be that as it may, and that's a topic for another thread (in fact, it's been the topic of quite a few), the fact remains that they are, as of now, the rules. If you violate them, and continue to do so after being told to stop, you should be prepared to face the predictable consequences. The issue here is not the reasonableness of the rules, but Mr. Duhamel's DYKWIA sense of entitlement.

LarryJ

http://spectrum.ieee.org/aerospace/a...t-any-airspeed

joefouche

For takeoff and landing it's also about having free objects in the cabin ... imagine if you had a sudden deceleration or bump during those times and there were suddenly 100 projectiles flying through the cabin.

Flyingfox

The engineers (you know, the people who have acually studied and have degrees, the "experts" in the field) should be making the call.

People are addicted to these hand-held devices. The world will not collapse if your message is sent a few moments later.

Everything carried on 20 years ago without them.

cblaisd

Please also see: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/omni/...ssed-here.html

:raiseshand:

Doc Savage

This guy definitely sounds like a dbag. Who is he? Never heard of him, not sure why this is news.

N830MH

No, thanks. I am not interesting to read in OMNI. That's why I am never use it very much.

KansasMike

The cited study (from 2003) says: http://spectrum.ieee.org/aerospace/a...t-any-airspeed

Over the course of three months in late 2003, we investigated the possibility that portable electronic devices interfere with a plane's safety instruments by measuring the RF spectrum inside commercial aircraft cabins. What we found was disturbing. Passengers are using cellphones, on the average, at least once per flight, contrary to FCC and FAA regulations, and sometimes during the especially critical flight phases of takeoff and landing.

If passengers making cell calls were a problem, then there would have been incidents. Seven years = nothing, no problems. As I pointed out, a number of foreign airlines don't have these rules and their planes aren't dropping of the sky.

Amtrak has people using blackberries at 100+ mph and Greyhound 70 mph, so what? Buses hit potholes and both have sudden decelerations but no one advocates restricting use on those modes of transportation.

Like me? I have a minor in engineering and have taken college-level courses in electrical engineering. Nothing I have learned indicates there is a genuine problem.

I rarely text message and I certainly do not perceive the need to do it in flight. However, between the TSA, the FAA, the FCC, and the sometimes gestapo airline flight crews flying is becoming less and less useful as a business tool. Without defending people who break the rules while they are in place, its time to loosen up the overregulation.

slawecki

the heaviest projectile would be a 20-25 lb kid or however big lap babies are allowed. mommie ain't gonna hold the kid at 10 g's.