All travelers know the drill once they sit in their seat: first fasten your seat belt and then put your smartphones in airplane mode.
But they may not know that the real reason they tune out is a very simple reason.
One pilot, who goes by the name @perchpoint, revealed that smartphones interfere with his headsets when not in airplane mode and can be a distraction when trying to communicate with ground control.
In a video posted on TikTok, he explained that the Airplane Mode feature “is not a conspiracy” and that there is a good reason why they ask you to turn it off before the plane takes off.
‘It’s not the end of the world. The plane will not fall from the sky. And it won’t even affect the systems on board,” he said.
“However, it has the potential to disrupt the headphones,” telling viewers that it creates a disturbance in their communication systems that sounds like a buzzing sound.
This can distract pilots as they try to jot down coordinates and receive instructions from the crew in the satellite towers.
Commenters questioned the validity of the severity of the issue, with one person responding: “If it really posed any risk to the flight, airlines would be collecting passengers’ phones.”
PerchPoint noted that the plane would not experience serious repercussions from not activating airplane mode and has not been linked to any accidents.
A pilot and US Army veteran explained that travelers should always put their smartphones in airplane mode to avoid interfering with the pilot’s headset.
Travelers have been prohibited from having their phones on since 1991, and with the launch of 5G service, the FCC and FAA have become more cautious.
The pilot was in the US Army and has been a professional aviator since 2019 before being promoted to pilot two years ago.
Despite the lack of major issues with keeping your smartphone on during flight, the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Aviation Administration still prohibit cell phone use in the air.
“Phones not being in airplane mode and interfering with radios is something that happens under the right circumstances,” PerchPoint explained.
“It depends on things like the phone provider, the location of the plane, the phone actively trying to make or receive a phone call, and where the passenger is seated,” he added, clarifying that the closer a passenger is seated to the cabin, the more will be the possibility of interference.
“Many flights occur per day, with thousands of passengers, they just want to mitigate the chances of interference with airplane mode with so many passengers.”
Tamara Vallois, head of communications at Wizz Air, said Condé Nast Traveler that even if phones are out of range of cell towers, they will continue to send electrical signals in search of this connection.
When you activate flight mode, cellular signals are disabled, meaning there will be absolutely no physical interference to the aircraft.
However, because wireless networks are connected by a series of towers, they could become overloaded if airplane passengers are still using their phones.
Travelers are advised to put their phones in airplane mode to avoid interfering with in-flight communication systems. The closer a passenger is seated to the cabin, the more likely their phone will cause interference
Concerns have only increased with the deployment of 5G wireless networks, which are close to those used for aviation bandwidth, which could cause interference between airplanes and navigation systems located near airports that They help the pilot land the plane.
The pilot shared his recent experience of experiencing interference during a flight he was piloting, saying he was using his headset to receive clearance on which direction to steer the plane.
“As soon as we started getting directions, there was a really annoying buzzing sound through the earpiece,” he said.
“Like I said, it’s not the end of the world, but it’s definitely annoying when you’re trying to copy instructions.”
Using mobile phones on board airplanes to make voice calls or send text messages has been banned since 1991, but many have wondered what happens if you forget to put your phone in airplane mode on a plane.
Dai Whittingham, chief executive of the UK Flight Safety Committee, told the bbc That airplane mode was historically important due to a lack of knowledge about how mobile devices affect airplanes.
“There was concern that they could interfere with the automatic flight control systems,” he said.
‘What experience has shown is that the risk of interference is very small. The recommendation has always been that once you are in flight, the devices are in airplane mode.”