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Flight attendants claim that using gadgets while flying (stock image) is dangerous during take-off

These days tablets and laptops can be used onboard the majority, if not the entire duration of a flight.

But flight attendants are now claiming that using gadgets while flying is dangerous.

However, not because of interference with avionics systems, as previously thought, but because many passengers ignore flight attendants' emergency announcements.

They also warn that the devices could become dangerous projectiles in turbulent conditions.

The US' largest flight attendant union is suing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in a bid to have the ban on the use of phones and tablets during take-off and landing, brought back.

The FAA has relaxed its guidelines to allow 'any other portable electronic device that the operator of the aircraft has determined will not cause interference with the navigation or communication system of the aircraft on which it is to be used'.

The Association of Flight Attendants, (CWA) which has 60,000 members, argues that by ignoring safety notices such as the location of emergency exits, passengers are putting their lives in danger. 

It also says that the new rules contradict others that require all items to be stowed safely during take-off and landing. 

The US' largest flight attendant union is suing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in a bid to have the ban on the use of phones and tablets during take-off and landing, brought back. It claims users of the gadgets (pictured left) ignore important safety announcements by cabin crew (pictured during the World Cup)

The union warned that the devices allow 'more things to fly around,' in the cabin during take-off and times of turbulence.

In response, a lawyer for the government told the judges at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, that smartphones and tablets are no more dangerous than books, which plenty of people read during take-off.

It is a year since the FAA found that personal electronic devices, including smartphones and computers, do not interfere with a plane's navigation and communication systems, as previously thought.

The relaxed rules, which depending on the airline, allow passengers to type and play games on their phones – in airplane mode - as they take off, have proved a big hit with frequent fliers.

Amanda Duré, an attorney representing the union told The Wall Street Journal: 'Essentially we want to set the reset button to the way personal electronic devices were handled prior to October 2013.' 

The union is apparently happy with a deal that means devices can be turned on, but not used by passengers, during take-off and landing.

The law suit was filed in December, but has only just come to light.