In the “old days,” flight attendants used to be known for walking the aisles asking if they could do anything to make passengers more comfortable, notes travel commentator Christopher Elliott.
“Now they patrol the planes in search of contraband like noise-canceling headsets, PDAs and computer peripherals,” he writes.
Passengers can now carry on baby formula and hairspray. But watch the external hard disk drive.
He cites a passenger’s account:
“The person across the aisle from me was using a hard drive,” the witness said. “The flight attendant noticed it, confiscated it, and gave it to the sky marshal on board.”
Delta now lists external hard drives as banned, Elliott writes, citing “safety reasons.” It does not elaborate. He says he find no credible evidence of hard drives crashing a plane.
Mr Elliott asked Delta for its side of the story. It did not respond.
“Personally, I think it’s time for a little common sense at 36,000 feet. No external hard drive has ever brought a plane down. Same goes for headsets, iPods and smartphones. Free the electronics. Now,” suggests Mr Elliott.
Report by David Wilkening
