Survey Confirms Airborne Distractions Issue

The recent FAA rule on cockpit use of personal electronic devices applies only to Part 121 carriers, although the NTSB would like to see the rule extended to cover Part 135 and Part 91K operators. AIN recently surveyed readers for insight into the distractions that challenge them and received 112 responses to our four questions. Nearly 70 percent of respondents told us cockpit and/or cabin distractions are definitely an issue. Surprisingly, only 39 percent of the same group identified electronics as the problem. The other 61 percent said people, not iPads or phones, are their big problem. Half of the operators told us their flight departments already have some kind of written company policy to deal with distractions.