Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Southwest Airlines passenger cited for cellphone abuse was purportedly on life-and-death call with hospital
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Joe David Jones, 50, of Austin, was accused of disorderly conduct because he wouldn't get off his cellphone during a flight to Dallas. He ignored warnings from the flight crew to turn it off, and they called the cops who met him at Love Field. But now his "business associate" is saying he was on the hospital, his father's heart had stopped, this was life and death, not just some guy ignoring the rules.
The cell phone rule does sometimes seem lame and arbitrary, and just an opportunity for people to rule a particular turf -- like a hoop you have to jump through in order to show the flight crew that you aren't some maverick who'll go nuts during an emergency. On the other hand, the rules is the rules. How long is a flight from Austin to Dallas -- like, 45 minutes? If it really is a life-and-death emergency, whadda doing on the plane.
Posted by T.G.
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Comments
Pavel Lishin Verified
Maybe he was going to visit his father.
1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Teresa Gubbins Staff
pavel, if you insist on posting fair-minded comments that give people the benefit of the doubt, then i'm going on strike
1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
John McClelland Verified
Unless he had the powers of some deity unknown to us, his phone call wouldn't have stopped or started his father's heart. I know that sounds cold, but he didn't need to be on the phone.
1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Rick Yost Verified
"I say shoot him!"
No, wait, Teresa inspired me to say that! I swear!
So, if I'm in this guy's situation (considering the 'on the phone to the emergency room' story is real) I'm not going to give a *#&@ what ticket the cops give me at the airport.
And if the guy was just being self-important and trying to order a pizza to be there when he deplaned-he WAS given a ticket. That's apparently the consequence.
Either way, the plane didn't drop out of the sky.
I don't know if it really is a safety issue or not. I just appreciate not having to listen to half of someone else's lengthy, useless, and usually too loud conversation.
1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Pavel Lishin Verified
John: They could have been asking him what medication his father is deadly allergic to. In which case, hanging up could very well have stopped his father's heart if they accidentally killed him with something he was allergic to.
1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Scott Doyle Verified
Umm, if the heart's stopped...I doubt they need a green light from someone on a cell phone to get it beating again.
Anyone have any idea what the true risk is of cell phones being used on planes? I mean, is it really going to mess with the nav system enough to where the pilot can't stop the plane from nose-diving into the ground?
Had something serious happened i.e. car wreck mangling/killing someone or the plane falling out of the sky...should this guy be on the hook for not hanging up the phone? I imagine he drove like a bat out of hell with the in his ear on the way to the hospital
1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Pavel Lishin Verified
Rules are rules, I guess. If my father was in the hospital, dying, I wouldn't be concerned about a $200 ticket.
1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Scott Doyle Verified
Ticket's not the issue, imo. Since a cell phone technically could have significant effects on a plane's systems, it's not exactly the best idea to create a hazard just to know what's going on with your father...and causing a disturbance likely cost him more time when he got off the plane than was saved.
Unless this guy is a doctor, I have a hard time seeing how the call changes his father's mortality while the ticker's stopped. Not that I don't empathize with wanting to be informed...IJS it's not imperative.
1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Rick Yost Verified
It's hard to judge another's actions sometimes.
Rules, laws, protocols, and social guidelines go straight out the window when a loved one or family member is in peril.
We sometimes set our own imperatives.
Then again, he might just be a jerk.
1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
David Gouldin Staff
Mythbusters and Wikipedia (both 100% reliable sources) to the rescue:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MythBust...
1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Lisa Lawrence Merritt Verified
WTF?! Remember back to WWII and people couldn't communicate though lives were in peril.
Give me a damn break!
1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Rick Yost Verified
WTF- Sorry, I wasn't even alive during said war.
I doubt there were many cell phones back then eh?
However, I do see young folks conducting entire relationships over the phone. I remember when I might go days without speaking to my girlfriend or wife.
1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Teresa Gubbins Staff
How can I miss you when you won't go away
1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Rick Yost Verified
Oh sure! Like your the first woman to want me to leave! Sheesh! :-)
1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Scott Doyle Verified
David, while it made me chuckle, methinks the following addition would have been A++:
Mythbusters and Wikipedia (both 100% reliable sources [citation needed]) to the rescue:
In the meantime, feel free to critique me at will. I leave you the following...
1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Pavel Lishin Verified
Lisa - yeah, but people also died of dysentery and polio.
Ah, simpler times.
1 year, 5 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
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