Boarding a plane usually strikes a blend of excitement along with strict rules that have to be followeed.
After the thorough airport security checks, travellers keenly await their boarding details before they proceed to step on the aircraft, where the atmosphere takes a more serious turn.
Cabin crew will direct you to fasten your seat belts, raise the blinds, position your seats upright, and most importantly, ensure all gadgets are set to airplane mode.
But have you ever been curious about the consequences of forgetting this step?
A pilot has offered reassurances that not switching to airplane mode is far from disastrous, the Mirror reports.
A YouTube video broadcasted by WKYC Channel 3 featured @perchpoint easing worries as he said: « This is just a friendly PSA the airplane 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. »
Recounting an incident he experienced in San Francisco, a pilot described the « annoying buzz » in his headset, which he said was due to a passenger’s phone not being set to airplane mode during takeoff.
He explained: « 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 airplane mode, that’s why. »
The insight shared online drew various responses, with one individual appreciating the advice: « 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. »
However, another was quick to clarify the ‘true’ reason for the regulation: « This is an FCC requirement and has zero to do with headsets. They don’t want everyone pinging towers along the route. »
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