JP
So I am sure I am not the only one to have seen the newish iPhone commercial where the pilot or whatever pulls out his iPhone and tells a story about how he avoided a 3 hour delay by looking at the weather on his iPhone. Well, lets suffice it to say that commercials are about as fictional as cartoons, so you shouldn’t believe everything you hear.
Sure enough, some jackass with an iPhone gets notice that his plane is landing at a different airport due to delays caused by bad weather. And what does he do? Exactly what he saw on the commercial, he picks up his iPhone, checks the weather, determines the coast is clear, and relays the message to a flight attendant.
The flight attendant then relays the message to the captain over the PA. That’s when the captain hits that pretentious prick with nugget of epic proportions:
“If the passenger with the IPhone would be kind enough to use it to check the weather at our alternate, calculate our fuel burn due to being rerouted around the storms, call the dispatcher to arrange our release, and then make a phone call to the nearest Air Traffic Control center to arrange our timely departure amongst the other aircraft carrying passengers with IPhones, then we will be more than happy to depart. Please ring your call button to advise the Flight Attendant and your fellow passengers when you deem it ready and responsible for this multi-million dollar aircraft and its passengers to safely leave.”
BAM! I really don’t think that guy will ever say anything again, in fact, I bet he sold his iPhone, same day.
We Knew This Was Going To Happen: iPhone Equipped Passenger Takes On Flight Crew Over Weather [via planebuzz]
6 Responses to “Pwned: Man with iPhone gets pwned on airplane”
UltraOrange November 20, 2007
This realy sounds like a hoax. And if it was real I think the pilot should have kicked him off the plane, it isn’t the passengers duty to tell the flight crew what to do.
You guys should read all the fanboy flames on the original page
NeutralProfessionalGun November 20, 2007
The original Salon.com article does a really great job of breaking down the damage this commercial has done to the public perception of airlines – and feeding the egos of certain iPhone owners who will undoubtedly pull this ignorant stunt on a regular basis now.
The author correctly states that it’s the airline dispatchers that Apple has “thrown under the bus” with their commercial – painting the picture that dispatchers are just ‘asleep at the wheel’, so-to-speak:
http://www.salon.com/tech/col/.....epilot254/
Neutralformer aircraft dispatcher November 20, 2007
An iphone is not capable of considering all the variables associated with routing aircraft. It takes a coordinated effort (as the pilot sarcastically conveys) of many people. Apple obviously doesn’t understand this–i had to laugh when i saw the commercial. However, the irony here is that, in the hands of a dispatcher, making a few calls to flight control, air traffic control, a well-known pilot, and/or checking the weather might mean that the dispatcher would consider never taking the flight himself (or at least having a plan B). Bottom line: leave surgery to the surgeons when you finally get that much needed lobotomy.
NeutralTom Smith November 21, 2007
Good for the pilot! That advertisement unnerves me… I can do the same thing with my Motorola Z8, as can the users of a whole host of higher-end Sony, Samsung, LG, and Nokia phones. Only Apple-holics would be crazed enough to go “Wow, that phone can check the weather?! How astounding! I’m going to go and shell out $600 for one right now!”
Stupid Apple…
NeutralJohn April 8, 2008
Ok bad move on passenger no doubt, but the pilot is far worse, why humiliate some one who clearly does not know what he is doing, just ignore it. Although if i was the passenger, i would seriously take some action. Sue the pilot
Neutralgt July 17, 2008
ahh, aren’t all electronics supposed to be off during take-off and landing?
I suppose it was for important for the JA to try and impress those around him than worry about safety.
I see this all the time, “I know they said to turn them off, but that doesn’t really mean me”.
Neutral