Cell Phone Call Aboard Airplane Leads to Dilemma
May 27th, 2008 • Posted in: NewsShould man have been allowed to complete life-or-death call, even though cell phone use on planes could have endangered landing?
DALLAS
A tense midair incident involving a cell phone created a perplexing ethical dilemma last week, with a man being charged for disorderly conduct after refusing to end his call when flight attendants implored him to.
The rub: He was talking to doctors about end-of-life options for his father, who was expected to die momentarily, according to a report from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Joe David Jones was ticketed for disorderly conduct on the ground in Dallas after disembarking from his Southwest Airlines flight, which had originated in Austin. Police say he refused to end the phone call and became “uncontrollable” and used profanity.
Federal regulations bar cell phone use on planes because it could interfere with navigation systems. A police spokeswoman told the Austin Statesman that airlines themselves can face fines of at least $25,000 if they allow cell phone use in the air.
Jones said he had forgotten to turn the phone off during the flight and received the message regarding his father’s condition as the plane approached Dallas. An associate of Jones said Jones felt compelled to stay on the phone and repeatedly called doctors back because of the life-or-death nature of the call, according to the Statesman report.
Airline personnel told Dallas TV station WFAA that the calls were made during the plane’s final approach, a particularly critical portion of the flight, and they were therefore in no position to negotiate with Jones.
“There are 137 seats on board the aircraft and five crew members,” Southwest spokesman Daryl Krause said. “So their safety comes first, including the safety of the passenger who was on the phone.”
InformationWeek writer Eric Zeman posed the dilemma to readers in a May 19 posting on his blog: “If using a cell phone on a plane were indeed unsafe, then Mr. Jones’ behavior — risking the lives of those on board the plane — is questionable. Much as some would like to think otherwise, the lives of 150+ people outweigh the life of one man. While I would feel empathy for Mr. Jones in that situation, it would not be fair of him to put others as risk.”
“But,” Zeman contends, “the plane didn’t crash. No one was hurt, though people were probably annoyed. What do you think? Was he right or wrong to answer the phone? Should emergency calls be permitted? Where do we draw the line?”
Sources: Fort Worth Star-Telegram, May 23 — InformationWeek, May 19 — Austin Statesman, May 13 — WFAA-TV, Dallas, May 13.
For more information, see: Related Newsline story, May 5 — Related Newsline story, Mar. 10 — Related Newsline story, Nov. 13, 2007 — Related Newsline story, Nov. 5, 2007.
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