This Will Make You NEVER Question Putting Your Phone on Airplane Mode For Landing Again

By Hilary White
StockSnap | Ross Parmly
StockSnap | Ross Parmly

You're not the only one with heavy sighs and eye rolls when the flight attendants announce that phones must go in airplane mode during takeoffs and landings. I've asked myself a million times what turning phones off really does while dutifully (and somewhat grudgingly) shutting down my devices.

"Sure, one person may leave their cell phone on for a flight in good weather conditions, but if you had 150 cell phones on during a flight, the navigational error may be larger."

Does it really make a difference if just one person "forgets" to follow the instructions? What does powering devices down actually do? Several current and former pilots recently offered some interesting explanations for the rule on Reddit, and needless to say, after reading through their responses, I will happily be turning off my phone every single I take off and land — no more questions asked. Current pilot and Reddit user w3woody sums it ups:

"The concern by the FAA is that certain electronic devices (like cell phones) have electronic components which may interfere with the VOR receivers that many airplanes used to use to navigate the US airspace, as well as the ILS (Instrument Landing System) receivers used to help airplanes navigate towards the landing strip. This is done through an overabundance of caution; normally there is no interference, though we did have one airplane in our flying club where a cell phone did screw up the VOR receiver (a VOR receiver is a type of navigation aid which transmits a signal that can be received by a special receiver in an airplane, that allows you to determine your angle relative to the VOR transmitter)," he said.

This basically means that cell phones can potentially get in the way of signals from a receiver to a transmitter, both of which are (obviously) essential to pilots.

Former pilot and Reddit user BoilerUp218 expands on the main points for why we have to turn devices off/put them in airplane mode, saying that there can be:

  1. Interference to navigational equipment: Mentioned above.
  2. Radio interference: Pilots can hear cell phone clicks over headphones which can cause them to miss instructions from air traffic control — NOT good.
  3. The scale of people using their phones: The former pilot says that on a good weather day, this may not be an issue because pilots can visually fly the plane and navigate the runway during takeoff and landings, but the less visibility there is, the more they depend on the navigational equipment.

You can read his full explanation below, and see videos that support his points. Bottom line? Better safe than really sorry. Texts can wait!