The National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates plane crashes, has become the latest federal agency to drop its BlackBerry smartphones in favor of iPhones for reliability, reports “U.S.A. Today” (http://macte.ch/FnbOx). It joins agencies such as the Defense Department, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Transportation Security Administration that have made the switch.
The NTSB, whose investigators respond immediately to plane crashes and other transportation disasters, says it’s switching to Apple’s iPhone 5 because BlackBerrys “have been failing both at inopportune times and at an unacceptable rate.” “The NTSB requires effective, reliable and stable communication capabilities to carry out its primary investigative mission and to ensure employee safety in remote locations,” the agency said in a Nov. 13 government filing about its smartphone service to justify the switch, notes “U.S.A. Today.”