Why do we need to put our phones in Airplane Mode during a flight?
For a very long time, we have been seeing one peculiar feature in almost every phone we see. When any one of us saw that feature for the first time, we got confused. Then the question arises, why is there something called Airplane mode?
However, as time passed by we got busy with our lives and moved on as we usually do, leaving the question unanswered. Everyone says that it has something to do with networks of airplanes. We need to turn on the Airplane mode on our phone when we travel so that our mobile networks don’t interfere with Aeroplane communication signals. This was said by so many people and so many times that we believe it and our curiosity died.
But today you will get to why you need to put your phone in Airplane mode exactly and what will happen if you don’t do that?
Why to put phones in Airplane Mode during a flight?
The main reason
If you go by the reasoning Flight Tech team at British Airways, “Mobile phone signals can interfere with aircraft navigational and landing guidance systems.”
However, there have been no strong pieces of evidence that a portable electronic device has ever interfered with airplane signals.
The best way that a pilot explained it is if you’ve ever left your cell phone next to a speaker—just before it rang, you would hear that clicking noise from the speaker. This clicking may seem like a small thing to us, but when operating an airplane, even a minute distraction can cause hundreds of deaths.
History
The United States Federal Communication Commission banned phone calls on planes in 1991. The phone calls were banned over the concern that the radio waves emitted from a cell phone could interfere with more important radio transmissions such as communication between Air Traffic Control and pilots so that planes could avoid other planes, thunderstorms, and mountains.
What would happen if we forget to switch on the airplane mode in flight?
Modern Aviation Electronics is way more resilient to these kinds of signal interference. That’s why in 2013 FCC (Federal Communication Commission) of us allowed the usage of electronic devices throughout the flight (with airplane mode enabled).
Passengers on European flights can even use cellular data in flight, however, they still cannot use the voice call feature of their cellphones. But that is not at all related to airplane signals, it is still not allowed to use the voice call feature so that other passengers don’t get disturbed.
