The NCAA has directed all airlines to ensure passengers completely switch off their phones during take-off and landing, ending the allowance of airplane mode.
The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has directed that all mobile phones must be switched off completely during flight take-off and landing.
Michael Achimugu, NCAA’s director of public affairs and consumer protection, disclosed this on Tuesday in an X post after an emergency meeting with aviation stakeholders.
“All phones must be switched off during the critical aspects of takeoff and landing,” Achimugu said, adding that airlines must update their security programmes accordingly.
He noted that the use of airplane mode is no longer allowed until regulations are reviewed to “reflect evolving technological situations.”
The directive follows a recent incident involving passenger Comfort Emmanson, who assaulted a flight attendant aboard an Ibom Air flight after allegedly refusing to switch off her phone before take-off.
Emmanson was arraigned and remanded at the Kirikiri correctional facility but later released following the intervention of Festus Keyamo, minister of aviation and aerospace development.