Pilot explains what happens when you forget to put airplane mode on your phone: "The plane will..."

Smartphones have become an essential part of life in an era when everyone wants to stay connected and almost every service is online. Some people get anxious just thinking about losing this connection, even for a brief period. However, we are always advised to turn off or put our phones in flight mode when we board an airplane. Failure to switch airplane mode on may interfere during landing and @perchpoint, a Pilot and TikTok user, shared his thoughts on this issue.

He clarified the reason why airplane mode on your phone is not a conspiracy, as reported by Inspire More. In the video, the pilot said, "If you forget to put your phones on airplane mode, no, it's not the end of the world. The plane will not fall off the sky and it won't even mess with the systems on board. However, it does have the potential to mess with the headsets." He further explained, "If you have an aircraft with 70, 80, or 150, on board, and even if 3 or 4 people's phones try to make a connection to the radio tower for an incoming phone call, it sends out radio waves. There is a potential that those radio waves can interfere with the radio waves of the headsets that the pilots are using."

In the viral video, the pilot also shared a recent experience where he encountered interference on the ground while trying to get clearance for his route. Both the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) prohibit the use of cell phones while on the flight, as their signals can interfere with essential aircraft systems. The FAA requires that devices be switched to airplane mode or have their cellular connections turned off. However, passengers can use Wi-Fi on their devices if the plane is equipped with Wi-Fi and the airline permits its use.

Dan Bubb, a historian, former pilot, and professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, agreed with the pilot’s statements, offering his expertise on the matter. As reported by Newsweek, Bubb said, "The pilot is correct. It could interfere with the headset, but will not cause the plane to crash. The reason why we ask passengers to put their phones on airplane mode is because they have the potential to interfere with the radio altimeter." He added, "In many planes, because the pilots sit so high off the ground when they come into the land, they can't see the runway immediately beneath them, so they rely on what is called the radio altimeter."

Passengers must keep their phones in airplane mode until the plane has safely landed because there's an announcement about the altitude level as the airplane approaches the airport runway. Meanwhile, as the video went viral, many viewers were shocked to know the information and wondered why it had not been shared more widely. One internet user proposed that officials should make a public announcement over the speakers, revealing that they can hear through their headsets when passengers haven't switched to airplane mode. This, he suggested, would likely prompt everyone to turn it on, if only to avoid the potential panic.

Follow @perchpoint on TikTok for more such content on aviation.