The other crew members were likely used to this type of behavior. And the fact that the mate repeatedly made and received calls unrelated to vessel operations showed that he, too, was comfortable with it.
The NTSB has found such use of personal electronic devices to be widespread across all modes of transportation. Perhaps the best known example in aviation happened in October 2009, when two airline pilots were out of radio communication with air traffic control for more than an hour because they were distracted by their personal laptops. They overflew their destination by more than 100 miles, realizing their error only when a flight attendant inquired about preparing for arrival.
The NTSB identified distraction due to text messaging as the cause of a commuter train engineer's running a red signal in suburban Los Angeles in September 2008. The result: a head-on collision with a freight train, killing 25 and injuring dozens. The engineer, who had a history of using his cellphone for personal communications while on duty, sent and received 250 text messages during the three days leading up to the accident.
Distractions, as we all know, are a growing concern on our roads, too, especially given the proliferation of entertainment and information available in vehicles and through personal devices. The consequences can be deadly. In one investigation, the NTSB found that the driver of a tractor-trailer made 97 calls and received 26 during the 24 hours preceding an accident. And in the half-hour prior to the crash, the driver spent 14 minutes - nearly half his time - on the phone. Ten people died that day after the truck crossed a median.
