“Ladies and gentlemen, as we prepare for a takeoff, please turn off or put in airplane mode all electronic devices, including phones, tablets, and laptops.”
Passengers hear this request at the start of thousands of flights around the world every day, and a plea the majority follow, even if they’re not entirely sure why.
Overall, we assume that it is because their signal can meddle with the airplane’s navigational instruments, that could eventually cause it to crash. But is it actually true?
Cockpit Confidential author and pilot Patrick Smith says it is technically true. However, it is more an act of caution.
“It depends on the gadget and how and when that gadget is used,” Smith said.
He used laptops as an example, saying it can transmit harmful energy which can become high-speed weapons in an abrupt impact or deceleration. But for mobile phones, can communications actually interrupt cockpit apparatus? Probably yes, but possibly no.
He adds that aircraft are built to stop such types of interference. And to date, there are no cases that have proven the grave consequences of leaving your phone turned on prior to takeoff.
If it was that serious, they would have more carefully checked each one’s mobile phone or any gadget.
Smith says it is not safety critical. but it can actually get annoying. as they can actually hear “dit d-dit d-dit…” registered on the headsets. Imagine if there are 90 mobile phones left turned on during the takeoff, that would be a lot of radio pollution.
