Passengers could be allowed to use iPads and Amazon Kindles during takeoff and landing after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it was taking a “fresh look” at the use of electronics on aircraft.

Current rules state that passengers are not allowed to use digital reading devices on aircraft during taxi, takeoff or landing because they might interfere with avionics. But the FAA said it was now going to explore the testing of e-readers, tablets and other gadgets on planes, The New York Times reported.

Laura J. Brown, deputy assistant administrator for public affairs at FAA, said the rules currently allowed airlines to request the use of electronic devices “once the airline demonstrated the devices would not interfere with aircraft avionics.”

Airlines have not previously done this because it is an expensive and laborious affair.

Brown said, “With the advent of new and evolving electronic technology, and because the airlines have not conducted the testing necessary to approve the use of new devices, the FAA is taking a fresh look at the use of personal electronic devices, other than cell phones, on aircraft.”

That is likely to be welcome news to people in the US who, according to Forrester Research, will have bought more than 40 million e-readers and 60 million iPads and other tablets by the end of 2012.

(Source: Newscore)