Hurricanes breach air safety laws

Editor

Hurricanes head coach Chris Boyd has revealed that some of his players broke air safety laws in the excitement of the weekend’s rugby.

The team flew back to Wellington from Christchurch on Sunday, after their win over the Crusaders on Saturday, at the same time that the Lions and Jaguares match was being played.

And some of the players watched that clash on a phone, until losing reception with three minutes to go. The Jaguares were leading 34-22 at the time and held on to secure victory by that same winning margin which meant the Hurricanes finished above the Lions on the overall table.

“Probably broke aeroplane protocol but somebody was watching it [the game] on their phone till three minutes to the end and we lost reception somewhere up in the air,” Boyd told Fairfax Media.

Electronic devices in “airplane mode” are able to be used during some Air New Zealand flights, using a transmitting device could be a breach of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) laws.

A Hurricanes spokesman said the team does lots of travelling and takes CAA rules seriously.

“We will be issuing a reminder to all of our players and staff saying they need to put their phones on in-flight mode,” he explained.

“They’ll get a reminder today.”