Police detain passengers for using phones during flight

Beijing police detained three passengers from Jan. 5 to Feb. 6 for allegedly using mobile phones during flights, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) News reported Wednesday.

The first passenger surnamed Zhang was held for five days after being arrested upon landing at Beijing Capital International Airport on a flight from Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, on the evening of Jan. 5.

A flight attendant said that Zhang refused to turn off her cell phone when the plane was taking off and insisted on making calls during flight. When she was arrested and taken to airport police station after landing, she refused to cooperate.

The second passenger, surnamed Niu, was detained for three days when her plane was landing at Beijing airport from Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, on the afternoon of Feb. 5.

The third passenger, surnamed Wang, was taken for five days after landing at Beijing from Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang Province, at noon on Feb. 6. Wang was punished for allegedly listening to music on cell phone during takeoff and landing.

According to China’s civil air safety regulations, using mobile phones and other communication tools during flight may threaten public security and can lead to detention for up to five days. For those cases of gross violation, passengers can be fined as much as 50,000 yuan (US$7,284.1) and be given criminal sanctions.