Originally Posted by
JohnBurke
Previously you claimed that it was a violation of regulation. "SOP," isn't regulation, and the regulation isn't criminal law. It's administrative law. If you're referring to company policies and procedures, one can hardly blame that on regulatory oversight. I know of no "SOP," whether specifically formalized in a general operations manual or otherwise by company policy, which dictates that a headset can't have bluetooth capability.
The introduction of "felony" is irrelevant. When you previously stated that federal law and Part 121 had been modified to prohibit a headset with bluetooth, perhaps what you meant was that neither was true, but it sounded good to say. If not, it's worth pointing out that neither is true, regardless of how it may sound to say.
???
121 SOPs, which are approved by a CMO, have the force of regulation, they're an extension of FAR 121. As you should know...
Federal law (and matching language in 121) was enacted last year to "outlaw" the use of devices utilizing wireless services. See the previous posts. The one point I've never been entirely clear on is whether wifi and bluetooth fall under that law, the language is a bit vague to the layman, although there may be FCC lawyers who know exactly what it means based on legal precedent. But nobody in any position of authority has issued any sort of guidance.
Also unclear as to whether airplane mode removes the device from the jurisdiction of said law. I think you could argue either way, and nobody will know for sure until some judge rules. Heisenberg's uncertainty principle.
As I've said about five times already, the intent of the law is probably not to go after someone using a legit aviation tool (headset) which happens to have an unused capability proscribed by the law. But if you miss a radio call and create a problem because you were listening to tunes via bluetooth, it might be a different story.
The rule is vague to the end user without published guidance and interpretation. I suppose I could write the FAA and ask...but you might not like the answer. I doubt they really know, put them on the spot and they'll fail conservative.