The US Federal Aviation Administration has issued an alert to airlines following an inspector's report that a first officer's cell phone began ringing at a critical phase of a take-off recently, an incident the agency says was "a potentially serious hazard".
According to the FAA air safety inspector who was in he jump seat of an unnamed airline's flight, just before reaching V1, the speed after which pilots generally are committed to taking off rather than aborting on the runway, a rather loud "warbling" sound was "detected" by both crew members.
"It was later determined that the sound came from the first officer's cellular phone, which had been left in the on position," the Safety Alerts For Operators note reads.
"As a result the ring tone caused a distraction between the crew members during the take-off phase and could have led the to crew to initiate an unnecessary rejected take-off," the letter continues.
Once on the ground, the crew revealed that their airline's general operations manual did not address procedures prohibiting the crew, unlike the passengers, from having their cell phones on while at their "duty stations".
The manual would appear to contradict federal regulations and FAA advisory circulars, which say that a cell phone "will not be authorised for use while the aircraft is being taxied for departure after leaving the gate". One advisory circular recommends that cell phones be turned off "and properly stowed to prepare the aircraft for take-off as per the operator's procedures".
The FAA is recommending that the director of operations for airlines and air taxi operators "perform a review of their respective operations manuals to determine if appropriate procedures are in place to remind crew members to turn off their cellular phones in preparation for departure".
The agency says jump seat rider checklists should also state the prohibition.
Source: Flight International
