Is it legal to have a radio scanner and use from inside an airplane ?

Question

i'm flying down to florida and want to listen to all communications. Is that ok ? what does the law say ?

Answer 1

There's no specific law about it , it comes down to airline policy regarding their use.

I've used one many times after simply asking the Attendant if I could use my "radio", "receiver" or "scanner". Best not to call it a "Police Scanner" or "Aircraft Scanner" as it may sound too suspicious. If they say no, I would not recommend making a fuss.. and hiding it might not be a good idea either. People have been thrown off of planes for doing such things.

Answer 2

It is not illegal, but the airline may have some silly rule about it.

Just do it and make sure you are discrete about it - use a headphone.

Most people don't even know what a scanner looks like anyway.

The hard part will be keeping track of what freq they are using.  Aircraft hop from ground, tower, departure, en route freqs throughout the flight.

If the stewardess complains about it, just put it away.