Very interesting - asked whether iPad needed to be taken out at HKG and they said yes, though I suspect HKG security wouldn't cause a hassle if I didn't take it out. Have to love security back home...

Left my iPad in my backpack at HKG, yesterday. Agent didn't say a word about it.

Don't ask, don't tell.

Lucky for you, I had to have my bags rescanned because I left my iPad inside. Last June the security guys at Changi almost ripped my new leather iPad sleeves because it was too tight and they wanted it out of it.

have never taken my ipad out in HK (or the US). the only place that i frequent in which they regularly want it out is Singapore...

personally, i have had my liquids in the bags in the permitted sizes left in my luggage lately also. i just leave it all in and take it out later...i know..that slows things down.

CX HK was referring to HKG and here I've left permitted liquids in my closed carry-on for a long time already. Just some newbies want to take a closer look since i've packed it to the max when going on long-haul with carry-on only. I take it out at all other airports though to expedite security check.

Haven't been back to SIN after getting a tablet. I'm shocked to read from kesler.go that they not only want the iPad out for security check, but as well out of the sleeve... A good example for just simply transferring rules intended for something else without knowing whether it makes any sense Taking the laptops out of the bag make it easier and quicker to see their printed circuit boards separated from chaotic cables and other items like dense batteries, which may look in combination like the "improvised" part of an IED.

But back to the topic: Agree with other posters that it depends on the crew and that it's usually OK as long as you don't use it in front of the crew. As well agreeing with FriendlySkies that no one bothers when using a camera in the privacy of the 744's 1A suite during take-off and landing or even a small bike-computer's GPS to record the flight-path... However, when flying in Y (which is unfortunately the majority), some FAs even ask me to even unplug my noise-isolating (unlike noise-canceling NO battery involved) earphones plugged via converter to the IFE - since they're in-ear, they have even smaller electro-magnets than the CX headsets...

I know as well some who forgot switching off their phones during an entire long-haul flight. Mobile phones scale their output from a few mili-Watts to 2 Watts. The maximum output is usually generated when trying to get a connection, which drains as well the battery much quicker than when having good connection all the time. Those ppl were able to tell me the story because their plane obviously didn't crash... I don't see any risks with cameras though - only when using the flash it might generate an electric pulse, but much weaker than any mobile phone. There is no conclusive evidence, so most are just being better safe than sorry.

Actually I already took both my iPad and Macbook Pro out of the bag but the guy wanted to take out the sleeves. Since the iPad sleeves were new (I just bought them that morning) and the iPad has a plastic screen protector, it sticks to the inner leather lining which makes its very hard to remove. Hence my new cover had a finger mark from the guy forcing to take it out.

On a domestic flight a few years ago on PR, one of the crew members was asking my seat mate to turn off his mobile phone when his own mobile phone rings. It was funny actually...he goes to the galley and never came out until after take off.

Can you elaborate? What is this? Sounds interesting.

Sure, albeit slightly OT: https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=69043

My wife wanted a GPS device to track her ultra hike at Oxfam Trailwalker HKG (100km over 4,000m+ cumulative elevation gain, overnight). It tracks the entire progress incl. location, elevation and time. You can upload the data to the Garmin website to get neat stats and could even make a 3D flight simulation via Google Earth - in real-time or accelerated.

We were looking at a GPS device which would not only record progress, but has as well a long battery life (up to 15h, extendable with USB power source) and customizeable maps to show relative position when getting lost (some only record, don't show). It's like a car navigation system recording your exact route and is even much smaller than a phone. Most other car nav systems and mobile phones with GPS function can run only for a couple of hours on batteries. It's as well useful for walking in other countries, being much more convenient than carrying around paper maps or Google Maps on phone without draining phone battery and generating data roaming costs.

It has to be placed by the airplane window though to get a satellite connection. Even if the satellite connection gets lost temporarily, it interpolates between the last recorded points. So like when discussing in the other threads about whether flying over the North Pole or not, ETOP, etc: no guessing required - you can accurately record it within maybe 20 metres, incl. elevation (how fast it climbs/lands). It obviously records the waiting loops as well before getting a landing slot.

To bring it back to the topic: Since it only receives GPS signals which are constantly raining down on the plane from the satellites anyways, and doesn't send any GPS signals, it should be totally harmless. But I still had a sheet of my WSJ discreetly covering it during take-off and landing to avoid any discussions...