pteron

You can - it just doesn't charge as fast.

Plus if it is a Mac laptop then it will give more power than the standard.

Poxball

Was on a F flight a few weeks ago and the excellent CC mentioned at the beginning that it was ok to charge the iPad if I was using it but not if it was just charging. First time I had ever heard this (apart from reading it on here) but in my non confrontational way I, of course, said that was fine. Not so the guy on the other side of the cabin who asked the CC why and when he received a confused (and it was a very confused) lecture about AC and DC without mentioning 1 actual risk he politely told the CC that this new rule was daft and made no sense.

Couple of hours later I went to change and have the bed made up. I got into bed and opened the iPad to read when I noticed the iPad was not charging. I put the bed back to seat mode and sure enough our crusading CC had unplugged the iPad charger without telling me. Needless to say I plugged it back in like I have done in the 20+ lh sectors I have been on this year and said nothing. The next morning I asked the CC why his rule was not applied by everyone (or indeed anyone) and he said they all didn't know the dangers involved.

Surely if this is a risk it should be clearly stated, broadcast during the safety demo, printed in highlife and enforced by all CC? Also you would think other airlines might pick it up as a risk? It surely should not be up to 1 or a very small few campaigning electrically aware CC to be implementing inconsistent safety concerns?

Other than the AC/DC paranoia, the CC in question was excellent on a great flight with mediocre dinner admittedly.

correctioncx

I was travelling in new first and used the Kodak universal charger for camera batteries - whichniaw bought from currys. I left it charging using the empower port. After a few hours I noticed the red
Light came on the charger and I can smell some burning plastic. So I immediate pulled it out. Nothing appears melted but the smell linger on.

DWFI

I've heard it a total of twice on BA as well, out of maybe 40-50 CW/F sectors in the last 5 years.

I've never heard it on any other carrier - from US all the way to SQ, so I really doubt it is a serious safety issue. If it is on BA in particular, that means their seats are extremely poorly designed.

Data point: All of those sectors I have charged an iDevice, Nokia phone, or Sony camera battery, or any combination of those. Never had an issue.

Can I help you

This is the standard pre safety video announcement being made on all worldwide flights from the 1st December.

Please study the safety card and take notice of the fasten seat belt sign. May we remind you that mobile phones, without flight mode, must
be switched off while the aircraft engines are running and all portable electronic devices including iPads, Tablets, laptops, MP3, DVD, CD
Players and mobile phones with flight mode must be switched off during take-off and landing as they may interfere with the aircraft
systems.
When not being used in flight, PED’s must be switched off and disconnected from the seat power socket.

orbitmic

As well as standard procedure with all airlines I can think of, in seat power is just not for charging. Of course it could have been said more 'nicely' but the substance of the message can't be faulted (or surprising).

paulwuk

So how do the cabin crew know when a device is "in use"?

If I'm asleep, but have headphones on, plugged into my phone, which is plugged into the power, is it in use?

If I'm on my laptop, but have set it aside while it's doing something computationally intensive (compiling, encoding, etc) and get up to go to the restroom, is it in use?

If I have it turned on, but the lid closed while I lean on it to fill in my landing form, is it in use?

I haven't flown long haul this month, so haven't heard littlegirl's new announcement (does it really include the word "PED"? Are people expected to understand what a "PED" is?), however I see where the "very small few campaigning electrically aware CC" come from, no doubt the same ones that insist on touching my mobile phone and swiping the boarding pass up and down when I board.

orbitmic

Do you mean are they going to take out the bazooka every time you take your finger off the keyboard for half a second? No. Or conversely is it possible to pull a fast one on the crew and for the cunning passenger to keep his/her thing plugged in in an attempt to charge it while not using it? Well, yes, I'm sure it is possible the same way some people can pull a fast one on the crew and switch on their mobile phone the moment the plane has touched the tarmac (or indeed presumably throughout the flight) as long as it is on silent and they remain discreet enough, etc. so sure if a passenger is intent on getting one over the system there are probably ways to manage. But however interesting it could be to try and guess how cabin crew will arbitrate or deal with marginal cases, the overall spirit of the rule is simple, if you are using your personal device, feel free to leave it plugged in, if you are not using it, please unplug it. I'm sure that crew act with common sense in 99.99% of the case so if you have gone to the bathroom and not unplugged it I would be surprised if the CC had forcibly unplugged your laptop and was waiting for you with a frown on their face ready to give you a b*llocking for endangering the plane the minute you arrived, but conversely, if as the OP you are ostensibly not using your device and leave it plugged in, then it is natural to expect that one may politely approach you and ask you to unplug.

PS: And indeed, if I correctly recall they say the words in full, not initials.

Littlegirl

The reason why these devices can't be charged while you are not awake or using the device is because they contain lithium batteries.

These batteries when they get hot can ignite and the fire cannot be put out by a normal fire extinguisher. The whole device has to be totally immersed in cold water, which of course is quite hard to do easily on an aircraft. This of course needs to be noticed and done quickly because unlike a home or building, an aircraft cannot be evacuated and these devices get too hot to handle very quickly.

These batteries are very dangerous and get incredibly hot. If you are awake and using the device, one would hope you would notice that your device was getting hot and turn it off but of course if you are asleep you would not notice and a serious situation could develop.

I beleive that there have been some incidents of devices with lithium batteries catching fire on aircraft recently and that is why this precaution has been brought in.

As crew we have also started receiving special instructions on how to put out a fire involving lithium batteries as these fires cannot be put out in the way other fires can by being smothered by a Halon fire extinguisher. These fire extinguishers do not work on a lithium battery.

Take a few moments to google lithium batteries and the consequences of a fire onboard an aircraft and then you decide if you think this is a sensible precaution for a responsible airline to take.

Lobengula

A healthy lithium battery will most likely be ok. The problem with leaving devices in for charging is that you have less control over them. In CW you could leave it on the floor then decide you want some sleep and crush it when you convert the seat. A damaged lithium battery is dangerous.

That's how I understand the reason why you can't do passive charging. You must be active with the device so you don't damage it and can detect anomalies.

That's also the reason why it's not allowed to have lithium batteries in checked luggage, they must be in the cabin.

The problem here isn't the logic behind the rule, the problem is that passengers don't know why it's prohibited. If this was communicated better I'm sure that everybody will respect the rule.

orbitmic

While I understand the positive intention, isn't it asking a bit too much and even potentially counter-productive? Considering the technical complexity of flying a plane, it would be impossible for airlines to spend the time it takes to explain the reason behind every single rule that is being imposed on passengers systematically. If people want to 'understand' they can search the internet, find great websites such as FT and other similar fora, and discuss at length with as much or as little technical expertise as they want. But in the meantime, comes a time when one needs to accept that a security rule is a security rule and that as passengers we are not here to question them but just to apply them. If we are not happy we just fly with some other airline. I just don't see where the notion that passengers would have a 'right to understand' the rules or that such understanding should be a pre-requisite to them respecting them.

At the risk of drifting OT, I'm at the age when many of my friends have kids, and as always with kids, comes a time when they need to tell them what not to do. Some of them go to great lengths in explaining the why and how of every rule they enforce, and I have rather come to the conclusion that this is a counter-productive strategy because kids are smart and will keep asking more questions to progressively put the adults in an untenable position that suggests that the rule is illogical even though the said rule is, in fact, perfectly sensible. At that stage the parents become angry and defensive and give the impression that they are 'forcing their way' by imposing the rule. The other parents who, when challenged about "why can't I xyz?" occasionally just calmly answer "because I say so" tend to avoid that sort of problem and I don't have the impression that their kids are lacking in critical capacity or intellectual curiosity.

So why can't I charge my ipad when not in use? Because BA says so! Wanting to understand why is extremely positive and should be encouraged, but it should not be a pre-requisite to people complying.

Sigwx

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vS6KA...e_gdata_player

The reason why the rules exist.

angatol

.....

Lobengula

I partly agree but as the peace seeking individual as I am, I want a solution

Why not update that Highlife magazine and dedicate a page to explain different rules? Why you can't listen to music during the safety briefing, why you can't charge your device and why you can't have excessive hand luggage. Why you can't have lithium batteries in your checked luggage is a bit useless because the luggage is already in the hold But for the next trip maybe.

During the safety briefing it could be mentioned that this page exists and for those wanting an explanation, just read the page.

fife

Quick, nobody tell them that some devices charge while being used....