FAA Scolds Passenger For Using iPad To Shoot Video of Bird Strike

By Chris Morran

Remember that bird strike in April that forced a Delta flight to make an emergency landing? The actual incident was caught on video by author Grant Cardone, who is now on some FAA "you're a troublemaker" list because he shot that video when his iPad was supposed to be turned off.

Cardone was on CNN this morning to discuss the letter he'd received from the FAA's Supervisory Principal Operations Inspector regarding the incident.

Reads the letter:

“Your failure to comply with flight attendant instructions during a critical phase of flight and an aircraft emergency could have affected the safe outcome of the flight... We have given consideration to all of the facts. In lieu of legal enforcement action (a civil penalty), we are issuing this letter which will be made a matter of record for a period of two years, after which, the record will be expunged.”

"I don't think I'm above the law or anyone should be," said Cardone. "I've flown over 3 million miles, a million of them with Delta, and to think that a device — a phone or this iPad... to think that any of these devices could take down a plane is ridiculous... "If truly these devices are that dangerous, then the FAA has the responsibility to ban them."

He didn't exactly respond to host Soledad O'Brien's point that, regardless of whether or not phones present a danger to the flight, Cardone did disregard the instructions of the flight attendants. But he did express concern that the FAA letter is overly vague about the implications of having this scolding on file for the next two years

"What I'm concerned about is what watch list am I on... Am I now a terrorist?" Cardone asked. "Am I going to get double-screened? They just need to clarify what the deal is."