Three passengers on an Alitalia flight from Milan were arrested last week after refusing to turn off their mobile phones. The pilot, who had asked passengers to switch off their mobiles on three occasions, aborted takeoff at the last minute after noticing interference with the plane’s navigation instruments.

Police boarded the plane at Linate airport and the culprits were arrested and removed after being pointed out by the flight crew. They now face prosecution for failing to observe safety regulations and could spend three months in jail.

The arrests come amid speculation that the recent crash-landing by a British Airways Boeing 777 at Heathrow may have been caused by electromagnetic interference from wireless devices. The Air Accident Investigations Branch of the Department for Transport is examining the possibility that a fuel-line problem brought down flight BA038. But Nina Anderson, author of Worse Than Global Warming: Wave Technology, suggests that interference from devices such as mobile phones could have affected fly-by-wire systems, disrupting communications between the aircraft’s electronic control unit and the engines.

Last year, Ofcom published proposals for airlines to install technology that allows passengers to make and receive calls while in the air. The American Federal Aviation Authority continues to ban the use of cellular phones on flights due to safety concerns.

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