Following the decision of the US Federal Aviation Administration, as well as major airlines, the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) of Malaysia has now also issued a directive that bans the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 onboard all flights operated under its jurisdiction.
The directive, which came into effect on 17 October 2016, requires airline staff to “ensure no person should carry (the) Samsung Galaxy Note 7 device in the check baggage, cabin baggage, or carry into the cabin”. It pushes the responsibility to owners of the Note 7 to declare to ground staff should they have the device in question with them.
However, it is worth noting that the directive stops short of denying a passenger from boarding a flight or worse, be subjected to civil penalties like the recently-passed US law. While the directive requests all possible measures to be taken to ensure there is no Galaxy Note 7 onboard an aircraft, it also provides a guideline on what to do if a person is to be found with the device onboard.
The owner will be required to power down and not use or charge the device, keep the device on him/her, ensure that the device is protected from accidental activation including disabling any features that may turn on the device (such as an alarm), and finally, not keep the device in the overhead compartment, seat back pocket, or cabin baggage.
The operator must also ensure that the owner complies to the following guide above.
For the record, Samsung Malaysia also urges all owners of the Galaxy Note 7 to power down their device and opt in on the exchange or refund program.
