Originally Posted by thegeneral
So the 10k feet thing is from sea level? When you fly over Denver you're actually a mile lower to the ground then you would be in say Miami?
Yes, that's why I am in the camp that think these rules are arbitrary and not based on scientific facts.
If the FAA runs the airport in Lhasa, China or some other ones over 10,000 ft, then you don't have to turn off electronics at all.
As for following rules or not, I usually fly Continental, and on most if not all flights, the FAs do follow this closely. At 10,000ft during the descend (easy to track on the widebodies with personal screens and Airshow), the cockpit crew ring a tone, and then almost immediately, I'll hear the announcement from the FA about final descend, electronics, blah blah blah...