Federal officials may soon be loosening restrictions on those personal electronic devices airline passengers hate to put away at the beginning and end of their flights, NBC News reported Friday.
The Federal Aviation Administration is expected to relax the ban on devices that now need to be completely shut off before a flight takes off or lands. Passengers currently must turn them off below 10,000 feet. Under new rules being considered, cellphones would still be off-limits, but other devices, such as e-readers, would be permitted for use during the entire flight.
The strict prohibitions against onboard electronics were developed in the 1960s, but the group's findings acknowledge that modern planes are much more secure against electronic emissions and devices are designed to work within a tighter frequency range.
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