The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has issued a ban on passengers switching to airplane mode on their phones during flight and has mandated that all passengers must switch off their phones.
This development was made known in Abuja on Tuesday by the Director General of Authority, Capt. Chris Najomo, during a stakeholders’ meeting with the theme “National Civil Aviation Security Committee Meeting.”
He said, “All mobile phones, I repeat, all mobile phones and other portable electronic devices should be switched off during at least the critical phase of flight on all Nigerian airlines.
“There’s nothing like anything like flight mode any longer. Nigerian air operators are therefore required to amend their operations manual to reflect this requirement and submit to the NCA for approval if different from this resolution.”
This ban on airplane mode by the NCAA is following the recent airport incident involving a passenger, Miss Comfort Emmanson, and an Ibom Air flight attendant allegedly due to Emmanson’s refusal to switch off her phone and instead switch it to airplane mode during flight.