Do you ever regulate other passengers?
 

Just out of curiousity, in the past several months I've had people sitting close to me who:
- turned on their cell phone while cruising at 38,000 ft and started texting one of their friends
- (on final approach) FA told them to put seat back upright, guy moved it until she walked back up front, then put it back down for landing

In these cases, would you intervene and ask/inform the person what they're doing is unsafe/illegal?

I'm of mixed opinion - on one hand, how somebody else acts on a plane is none of my business, but if it starts to put MY safety at risk (however so slightly) I think I have the right to speak up.

Thoughts?

I think we have all been in that situation. Ideally these transgressions would be observed and compliance gained by a member of the cabin crew; however, that often does not happen. It is an awkward situation. A fully reclined seat or a cell phone conversation during takeoff or landing stands out to me like a sore thumb. Some FA's don't seem to want to get involved in policing these things. Others are vigilant. It is sad when the cabin crew's responsibilities are left to the passengers.

It would depend on how aggressive the transgressor was and how much a threat they were posing.

I was at the bar near one of the DL gates at DCA and a kid came in (17-ish) and tried to order an alcoholic beverage. The bartender carded him and the kid was like. "uh, it's in my bag, I'll be right back..." well, he never came back but when I boarded my flight to ATL, he sat across from me with his Mom...we were in the first row bulkhead and he jammed his duffel under his seat and the older lady behind him complained that he needed to put his bag in an overhead because his duffel was blocking her footroom. He ignored her, so I intervened and told him to move his crap to the overhead. He mouthed off to me with that slightly-slurred inebriated voice and I figured he musta found some underage booze elswhere before boarding! I asked him if it was his first time on an airplane (ha ha), and he got all upset and stated he was not moving his duffel. So, I just got up and told the FA what was going on. The boy and his Mom ended up grabbing their crap and moving to the back of the plane in a huff since the overheads were full by that time...I was slightly inebriated myself but was still the hero of the front cabin that day...

Never done it.

I would only do it if the person were engaging in what I considered to be a real saftey/security problem, and would go through the FA, if at all possible.

When I saw this thread title, I had a vivid picture of handing out Metamucil to my fellow passengers.

Notify a flight attendant at once... let them do their job. If you intervene, they may turn out to be a wacko, and assault you.

Gotta stay regular! On a recent LH flight, my Serbian seatmate attempted to regulate my taking photos out the window. It was annoying, but he shut up once I started rolling out all the airline/TSA jargon I've learned on these boards.

Nope, but I do usually break the rules myself. Usually have my iPod on for landing. Makes things more dramatic (I actually enjoy flying, despite all the bs) and I'll eat my hat before I believe that it could in anyway interfere with the instrumentation. Key is to use earbud headphones, run cable through shirt, and have long hair. Wouldn't use my cell though. There actually is a (very) small chance of that causing some problems.

If a passenger leans his seat back into me before the captain switches off the 'seatbelt sign' then I most certainly ask them to stay in an upright position until this has been done.

Otherwise, I always insist (as gently as a I can) that the window blind is kept open for landings. Unfortunately, I'm not always backed up on this one - the FAs don't always announce this requirment through the tannoy :( . But I have an overactive imagination and the repercussions of not allowing potential rescuers a glimpse into the fuselage is pretty ugly.

And coolw12 - there are some extremely crucial moments at take off and landing. It is actually possible that your ipod could have an effect (think of a TV and the way certain things can affect the signal - ever had it 'sparkle' for a second when turning a light switch on or off? It's a similar thing). Ordinarily, a teeny glitch won't matter - but when you're just 20 metres from the ground it might possibly interfere with and impede that final crucial adjustment.... Why take the risk? I know this scenario must seem highly unlikely to you. I agree it is. Alas, it isn't actually impossible.

If you were sitting next to me, I'd certainly ask you to desist from using your player.

I am aware that there are crucial moments at take-off and landing when a tiny thing can cause major problems (I read "Ask The Pilot" every week on Salon), but the odds the amount of EM radiation put out by a tiny, power mising music player could interfere with the instruments or relays is just way too small to measure. It's theoretically possible, yes, but so is being struck by lightning in a well grounded house while staying away from electrical devices. And an iPod is in no way analagous to a TV, which has a RECIEVER in it and uses far, far more power.

And besides, most air crashes are due to A: pilot error or B: mechanical failure, usually due to lack of proper maintanence. And most air accidents don't even happen in the air. Most are runway incursions.

Wrong way round - I'm suggesting the aircraft acts as a receiver, not the ipod.

I have no problems with you taking chances with your own safety - but why should you gamble on everyone else's?

As I've also been in a house struck by lightning - I took the precaution to unplug all the appliances first. You should have seen the state of my neighbour's toaster! Not a very good comparison though. Very different things.

As I said, I agree the chances of anything happening are incredibly small. But they are there. Why risk everyone's safety for the sake of a soundtrack?

Agreed. I've pointed out to several people still wearing iPods on final approach that they're not supposed to be on - I usually tap the person on the arm, it generally goes like this:
Me: I don't think they like you to have those on for landing.
Her: Really? This thing?
Me: That's what the pilot just said (shrug)
Her: Oh, OK. (turns it off)

Generally, people just don't know the policy or didn't hear the announcement over their music.

That's because your TV and the light switch are connected to the same source of mains electricity, and when you increase/decrease the load by flipping that switch you get a little voltage spike. There's no such connection between an iPod and the avionics.

I think turning off cellphones is sensible, because they blast out so much radio frequency junk. But your average MP3 player is pretty much as quiet as an electronic device can get...

So, do you ask people to turn off their pacemaker as well? :D