Withdrawn by Samsung and recalled from store shelves, the explosion-prone Galaxy Note 7 is now forbidden in the skies. The Federal Aviation Administration has officially banned it, via an emergency prohibition order, making it a federal crime to take one on board an airplane.
The order restricts passengers from carrying the phone “on their person, in carry-on baggage, in checked baggage, or as cargo,” and says that anyone who inadvertently brings one on a plane must power it down immediately. Carriers are also required to “deny boarding to a passenger in possession” of the phone.
Passengers who bring a Note 7 onto a plane are “subject to civil penalties of up to $179,933 for each violation for each day they are found to be in violation (49 U.S.C. 5123),” and could be prosecuted, which could “result in fines under title 18, imprisonment of up to ten years, or both (49 U.S.C. 5124).”
It is already a cult object, ready to take its place among the more dangerous inhabitants of our descendants’ wunderkammers.
Will terrorists try to scoop up as many of these little hotties as they can? Flat little incendiary devices https://t.co/NLDhwNMuox
— William Gibson (@GreatDismal) October 17, 2016