CEO Escorted Off Flight for Using Own App
Published at | Updated at
Delta Airlines(NEW YORK) — The CEO of the company that developed the smartphone app Viber was escorted off a Delta plane when it landed in New York for making a call with his app during the flight, reported Gizmodo.
Viber CEO Talmon Marco used his own app to make a call and text over VoIP through GoGo, the in-flight Wi-Fi service offered by Delta Airlines.
Marco sent a series of tweets related to the incident Tuesday, apparently as the situation was unfolding.
“@Delta @DeltaAssist on a delta flight, trying to use Viber, crew says VoIP is banned by FAA for safety (it’s not). No such issue on United!” Marco tweeted. “@Delta @DeltaAssist crew of DL1204 says they are calling the port authority because I used Viber.. This will be my last DL flight. Ever.”
Marco later continued to tweet, “Can you believe@DeltaAssist is going to call the cops when we land because I used Viber on Gogo inflight wifi?? Nuts..”
“was using Viber on a DL flight.. Crew says banned by FAA (not true). They Calling cops at LGA,” he said on his Twitter profile.
His final tweets on the matter say he just wanted to test the app and that he was not arrested.
In a statement to ABC News, a Delta spokesperson said, “The use of any voice application, such as a Web-based VoIP service, is prohibited by the GoGo Terms of Service.”
“Delta fully supports a ban on cell phone voice transmissions. We are not however, opponents of in-flight data transmissions (i.e. text and e-mail messages) provided they do not interfere with flight deck navigational equipment.”
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio