GPS allowed in cabin?

[DanJ]

The type of aircraft you were flying was what? Could the fact that you are sitting 18 inches from the instrument panel, instead of in the passenger cabin of a commercial airliner have anything to do with it?

[Globaliser]

(the Concorde was the last commercial aircraft that I can think of that still had an engineer station)

< geek alert! >

 

I seem to recall that Ansett had its 767s delivered in 1983/84 with a unique three-crew flight deck, including a flight engineer's station. This was then offered as a Boeing option, but (AFAIK) AN was the only airline that ever took it up, which was due to the airline caving in to union pressure. Not only were the aircraft therefore more expensive to operate, they were also pretty much unusable by any other airline - ie, zero resale value.

[Globaliser]

The type of aircraft you were flying was what? Could the fact that you are sitting 18 inches from the instrument panel, instead of in the passenger cabin of a commercial airliner have anything to do with it?

Distance certainly has something to do with it. But there are plenty of passengers on an airliner who sit within 18 inches of critical navigation and communication system wiring.