Boarding a flight is a mix of excitement and following the strict processes that are in place. Travellers pass through security and wait for gate information before getting on the plane, where attendants enforce strict rules too.
You’re told to fasten seatbelts, lift window blinds, sit in an upright position, and switch devices to aeroplane mode. But what if you overlook that last step?
A pilot has eased concerns, as reported by the Mirror. A video circulated by WKYC Channel 3 features @perchpoint assuring viewers that failing to enable aeroplane mode is “not the end of the world”.
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He said: “This is just a friendly PSA the aeroplane mode button on your phone is not a conspiracy. So if you forget to put your phone on airplane mode, no it’s not the end of the world, the plane will not fall out of the sky and it won’t even mess with the systems on board.
“However, it does have the potential to mess with the headsets, if you have an aircraft with 70, 80 or 150 people on board and even three or four people’s phones start to try to make a connection to a radio tower for an incoming phone call, it sends out radio waves, there’s the potential those radio waves can interfere with the headsets the pilots are using.”
The pilot also shared a particularly frustrating incident where a passenger’s phone caused an annoying buzzing noise in his headset during takeoff. He said: “And as soon as we started to get the directions, we got this really annoying buzz with the headset and it kind of sounds like there’s a mosquito.
“Not the end of the world but definitely annoying when you’re trying to copy down instructions and it sounds like there’s a wasp or something lying around you. So if you’re ever curious why you get put on aeroplane mode, that’s why.”
The pilot’s advice was met with agreement online, with one commenter saying: “That is excellent advice. Of course, I think we all know that not everyone heeds to the policy that all airline companies have during flight.”
Another commenter pointed out that the requirement to put phones on airplane mode is actually due to FCC regulations, rather than issues with headsets, as the authorities don’t want multiple phones pinging towers along the flight route.