Originally Posted by
CaptainMiles
Or you are approaching some place like UIO (elevation 9218 feet) and it's a perfectly normal approach. The 10,000 feet "PEDs off" rule applies at 10,000 above sea level, not 10,000 above the terrain or the destination airport.
I think the rule applies to AGL not ASL.
Most frequent time of occurrence: Strauss found that close to half the interference events occurred within the "sterile cockpit" window, or that regime below 10,000 ft. when the crew is prohibited from engaging in non-essential (i.e., casual) conversation. This finding, Strauss said, indicates that "passengers may not be complying with airline requirements to keep their electronics turned off."
Strauss noted that "correlations do not imply causality." However, the propensity of events below 10,000 feet is also the time when passengers "are more likely to initiate calls during approach due to aircraft
proximity to the ground (i.e., cellular base stations) and the desire to inform friends, relatives or colleagues of their impending arrival."