What happens if you don't put the phone on the plane mode during the flight. The warning of a pilot: “It is not the end of the world, but it is quite annoying”

A pilot explains why putting the phone on the airplane mode during the flight is not part of a “conspiracy theory”, but it is about how the devices can affect the communication of the pilots in critical flight times.

The airplane mode activated on the phone during the flight is not only a meaningless formal rule, but it is about the safety of the flight, explains a pilot who has decided to clarify this problem on his account on Tiktok, @perchpoint.

“This is just a friendly advertising message, which informs you that the airplane button is not a conspiracy”, to start their explanations in the clip posted on Toktok, adding that, although forgetting to close or put your phone in airplane mode “It is not the end of the world, the plane will not fall from heaven, nor will affect the systems on board“, However, active phones can interfere with the communication equipment that the pilots use.

Specifically, if in a plane with 70, 80 or 150 passengers a few phones are simultaneously trying to connect to mobile towers to receive calls, they issue waves that can create interference, explained the pilot, according to Mirror.

“These radio waves could interfere with the headphones that the pilots use,” he said, describing a personal experience when, during a landing, he heard an irritating noise in the helmet, similar to a buzz, exactly when he had to note critical instructions transmitted by the control tower.

“No, it is not the end of the world, but it is quite annoying when you try to write down instructions and sound like a wasp or something that flies around you. So, if you ever wonder why you have to activate the plane mode, here's the reason.” said the pilot.

According to the specialists, the risk exceeds the simple crew irritation, especially since the pilots often operate with low visibility, and the clear communication with air traffic control is crucial, especially during the offices and landings, in which most aviation incidents occur. At such times, distracting pilots or compromising audio quality can make the difference between a safe and risky maneuver.

From the point of view of the regulations, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires the activation of the airplane mode or stopping the phones during the flight to prevent signal interference.

In the past, when mobile phones were relatively new, it was discovered that devices that were not switched in airplane could overload the terrestrial networks while taking off and landing, because they were trying to connect to several towers simultaneously, generating strong interference.

Although there are not enough studies that measure exactly how much these interferences affect the aircraft instruments, many pilots have said they can hear background noises coming from active phones, especially in critical flight times, when phones re -sign the signal.