Most of you would have seen that during transit the flight attendant suggests switching devices to airplane mode. But, do you know the actual reason why they ask us to do it and what would be the problem if we don’t follow it? Many people believe that a phone’s signal can interfere with a plane’s electrical signal and can cause a fire or can damage the telecommunication systems and even cause a plane to crash. But, let me tell you it is not true at all, and the actual reason is something else.
So, far there is no evident report that signals from electronic devices have ever caused a plane to malfunction and crash. But, if your device is not in airplane mode it causes radio pollution and thus congests the network, as your phone signal bounces off multiple towers and sends out a stronger signal when you are more than 10,000 feet in the air.
On Quora, Coenraad Loubser said: “To compound matters, the weaker the signal your cell phone picks up from the tower, the more it amplifies its signal to try and get a response (and the more battery it uses). Planes with onboard cell coverage, allow your phone to communicate using very low power, or Wi-Fi. When you put your phone in Airplane mode, the GSM/3G Radio inside your phone is completely disabled and you can still use the phone for other functions.”
As, you have seen in the clip the sound is not very loud, but imagine that noise when so many on-boarded passengers would not switch their phones to airplane mode, it will certainly cause a lot of radio pollution. And, this would annoy the pilot because the noise would not let them clearly receive a critical bit of information from ground control.
Now you know the reason to show your appreciation to the crew member by switching your phone to airplane mode.
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