Narrative:

We had taxied to #1 and called ready for takeoff and was cleared for takeoff by the tower. At this point the PIC (capt.) received a phone call on his cellular phone and he diverted his attention from aircraft operations to actually answer the phone call; as we were approaching the active. It was the company calling for some reason; but there was no rationale for any individual to answer his/her phone in a critical phase of flight; particularly at this critical juncture. It was a short response to the calling party; letting them know he was just taking off. Of course; the PIC had forgotten if we were cleared for takeoff after that interruption; I assured him he that we were properly cleared.I discussed this after airborne and in a non-sensitive phase of flight; the answer was 'well we weren't on the roll!' I made it clear that under 10;000 feet all non-essential communications are prohibited; as we were in a critical phase and I wasn't certain he fully understood the rationale behind critical phase of flight restrictions in that we were on the ground. He seemed to understand after an explanation; but it was beyond me how a captain could lose such focus. Furthermore; even worse how could a far 135 flight follower make a call or contact if there was any chance of the aircraft being in a sensitive phase of flight.I reviewed the operations manual and sure enough there was no apparent language that identified explained critical phase operations. How is this possible?

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CE560 First Officer was dismayed when his Captain answered his cellphone as he was about to enter the runway for takeoff.

Narrative: We had taxied to #1 and called ready for Takeoff and was cleared for Takeoff by the TWR. At this point the PIC (Capt.) received a phone call on his cellular phone and he diverted his attention from aircraft operations to actually ANSWER the phone call; as we were approaching the active. It was the Company calling for some reason; but there was no rationale for any individual to answer his/her phone in a critical phase of flight; particularly at this critical juncture. It was a short response to the calling party; letting them know he was just taking off. Of course; the PIC had forgotten if we were cleared for takeoff after that interruption; I assured him he that we were properly cleared.I discussed this after airborne and in a non-sensitive phase of flight; the answer was 'well we weren't on the roll!' I made it clear that under 10;000 feet all non-essential communications are prohibited; as we were in a critical phase and I wasn't certain he fully understood the rationale behind critical phase of flight restrictions in that we were on the ground. He seemed to understand after an explanation; but it was beyond me how a Captain could lose such focus. Furthermore; even worse how could a FAR 135 flight follower make a call or contact if there was any chance of the aircraft being in a sensitive phase of flight.I reviewed the operations manual and sure enough there was no apparent language that identified explained Critical Phase operations. How is this possible?

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.