However, being unable to cope with technical issues is one thing, being hysterical about it is another. Casey, the soon-to-have-been-arrested man, writes:
“About 1 and a half hours into this cinematic masterpiece I had a flight attendant try to get my attention. […] He said something to the effect of "you can’t use a cell phone in flight". OK, that makes sense, so I assured him that I had the phone in airplane mode and that all cell, wifi and bluetooth was off.
He again said "you have to stop using it" and walked on…”
The quarreling about the use of the iPhone goes on and reaches its peak soon enough:
“So I ask what rule I am breaking. He tells me I am talking on my cell phone. I again explain I am not using the cell part and it is disabled. I go on to further explain that I have been on other airlines that have specific written rules that say cell phones in airplane mode are OK above 10,00 feet, so how could it be a FAA rule. And if it is, what rule ? He has no answer for that, but to now yells at me "You have to do anything I say, I am going to have you arrested"”
And wait, it gets even better. The man is arrested when at destination and the police confronts the two stories. While the iPhone owner sticks to the facts, the flight attendant changes his story 3 times. At first he kept claiming that it was all about “breaking FAA rules”, followed by the “plane is not shielded for ANY electronic equipment at all, so even a phone in airplane mode could cause problems” line. The grand finale sounded like this: “the airplane is not shielded for ONLY phones in airplane mode”.
The man was released from custody immediately and now he’s waiting for an apology from the ATA. Until then, we’re wondering if the tech-wise flight attendant is looking for a job or for a good shrink.