Photographing from inside commercial aircraft

I was recently told to refrain from taking pictures of clouds on a

commercial AIR TAP Portuguese)flight from Porto, Portugal to

Heathrow, London. We were at 35,000 feet and in clouds. I was told

that taking photographs in flight is forbidden under the new

security controls on commercial flights. Does anyone know if such a

ruling exists? Does it apply to all commercial flights?

 

Adrian Stone

Al Queda and Georgie Bush may have plans to use clouds as weapons! Remember, your heard it here first!

I don't know about whether its against the law or not (The Patriot Act pretty much made anything illegal that any authority wants illiegal), but you are on private property when you fly on an airlines airplane. They have the right to demand no cameras or any other device they deem fit. Your recourse is to either not use thier airline again, write a letter to the airlines customer service center discribing the incedent and requesting clarification, or don't bring out your camera.

Asiana says in listing permitted equipment for use in the cabin in flight: "Camera equipment, including movie cameras and lights, video cameras, and flash bulbs, digital camera are allowed, but only when the No Smoking sign is off. "

 

So there's no international ban. Airlines get to make their own rules. Individual flight attendants also have thet privilege, really, since passeners are required (at least under U.S. regulations) to do what the flight crew says.

 

Be well,

I should have made more clear, the above this aplies to Aircraft owned by American Companies and over United States soil. Laws may vary from nation to nation. But I doubt it.

How many flight attendants are on the plane? How much time will they spend at your seat? Just shoot....<p>

 

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Sometimes you have to take chances... flyby of Greenland en route from Amsterdam to New York... just after the new security measures were implemented. My friend woke me up to show me this, and I'm grateful for it to this day.

 

jb<div></div>

On the last flight I was on (May, 2004), passengers were warned that not obeying a flight attendent would result in arrest when the plane arrived at its destination.

 

Conni

I just flew on Lufthansa across Germany and took a few pics of the landscape below. Attendants served me as usual; no restraint on photos there.

 

Will fly TAP later next month and shall let you know (a) if anything worth photographing came under our wings, and if so, whether (b) I was hassled by TAP attendents.

The only time I was told to not take photos from commercial aircraft was while we were on the ground at Bombay, Bangkok, and at a field on the east coast of Taiwan that was shared by their military. I remember that during WWII there were times and places where the window shades had to be drawn during portions of the flight. (One of these places was at Niagara Falls.)

Same goes for my "local" (~60 km) airport. It's part civilian airport and part Swedish Air Force base.

Ah, Aerolittoral. Good to see they still exist. I flew into Algeria with them in 1993 for an eight month stay.

 

Taking photos in the plane is up to the company not the TSA (no jurisdiction) in or over Portugal, London, or in between.

i bet all that rust in the aerolitoral engine seams was reassuring.

Stephen, different airline. This is in Mexico, it's a local (small) airline.

 

Rust doesn't bother me. Just get on the plane and go. If it had been on fire, I would probably have had some concern.

Just sit down and enjoy the fight! I do not want people taking pictures on planes and messing with electronic devices. It makes me and most of the other passengers nervous. All of these people complaining about not being able to shoot in subways or on planes need to figure it out. Are you allowed to shoot pictures or take video in a movie theatre while it is playing? NO! Are you allowed to walk into a bank and shoot pictures of things behind the counter? NO! Some places are not meant to be photographed. You might think you have the right to do it but it makes most of nervous. I am sure you people who disagree will never get that fact but it is what it is. I do not want some guy/girl digging through their camera bag at 40,000 feet and messing with electronics. I am nervous enough up there. Just sit back and relax. You do not need to take pictures up there. If you do, rent a plane or go on a tour that is meant for picture taking in the air. Don't mess with my flight. Just sit back, watch your movie and eat your lousy meal. You wil be on the ground in no time.

Funny, Tom, no one has ever looked the least bit nervous about

me using my laptop or listening to my CD player during a flight

(not during takeoff or landing). Sure you're not just making up

stuff about how <i>most people</i> feel?<P>

 

As an aside, my travel cameras are completely mechanical. The

only hazard they might present to the plane's operation is if I

managed to bash out one of the plane's windows.

Mike, "most people" would prefer you just sit on the plane and keep quiet. And yes, using your laptop and cd player would bug me also. Just sit there and eat your peanuts. If you want to listen to music, use the ailine headphones and listen to the radio. They have 9 stations and that should plenty for someone even if they are as picky as you. You don't need flight time to take your little photos of the wing

I am just sitting there keeping quiet. Unless I'm talking to

whoever's seated next to me. Do "most people" think it's wrong

for me to do that, too?

You can talk to me if you are sitting next to me. Maybe we could talk about or opinion differences. Just keep your camera bag neatly stowed in the compartment above your head (your laptop also).

Are you in charge of the airlines? A flight attendant or air marshall? If not, why would anyone have any interest in what you think they should be doing? I sure don't.

your post makes no sense. People are talking about airlines not allowing you to take pictures during the flight. Their rules, not mine! I am saying I agree with them. And obviously someone out there fels the same way I do or they would not have made it a rule! I really don't care if you agree with me Jeff. Its just a good thing you are not running our airlines.

First, an airline is a private business, and the airplane is privately owned. Therefore, they

are perfectly within their rights to set whatever rules (within reason) they wish.

Furthermore, the requests of flight crew have the strong backing of the law when in the

air. So if they say you can't take photos, then you would be well advised to put your

camera away. On the other hand, there is no specific "law" or FAA regulation stating that

photographing out a plane window is illegal.

 

Having said that, I'm guessing that your sad experience was probably the result of an

overzealous flight attendant. Not unlike overzealous private security guards that try to

forbid photography of bridges and anything else that makes their overactive minds

paranoid. Nervous nellies like Tom notwithstanding, taking a photo while in flight will not

cause the plane to magically fall out of the sky. People have been snapping photos out of

airplane windows for 70 years. And there is certainly nothing you could photograph out of

a commercial aircraft window at 35,000 feet with a consumer camera that could possibly

be considered a security risk. This is quite silly.

the "most people" i know of use their cd players, work on their laptops, play on the gameboys, etc, while consuming those lousy peanuts. and photographers they're not, but they also love to take snaps through the window. *honestly*, i don't understand exactly what part of any of this can "bug" anyone? stupid rules like this only feeds to the fear of the timid and the paranoia of the ignorant.

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Sorry, its not rust, just oil and fumes from the engine...

"...under the new security controls on commercial flights"

 

Al-Queda are likely planning a coordinated Stinger missle attack on Westen commercial flights, or something of that sort for their next show.

 

This Airline security B.S. with bothering Joe Clueless Shutterbug is little more than displacement activity until the next elephant turd hits the fan.