News Ask Jerry: Why do we still need to use airplane mode on a flight?

[AC News]

Have a question about the tech in your life? If so, maybe we can get them answered!

Ask Jerry: Why do we still need to use airplane mode on a flight? : Read more

 

[Stanley Kubrick]

I wonder how many people just turn off the ringer, or maybe use DND instead? Any plane crashes recently do to NOT using Airplane Mode? Didn't think so.

 

[Crossstick]

I like the rule because I don't want to hear other flyers making their calls. Plus aren't we flying in metal tubes? The only time calls would work would be takeoff and landing.

 

[SnowyRVulpix]

Frankly, half of these are reasons why I may never ever fly. If something as simple as a smartphone can interfere with planes navigation systems, imagine what someone with malicious intentions can do. It is scary to think about. As far as I know there has never been a crash attributed to these devices, but it is scary.

As for the other half... I get it... Someone loudly talking on a phone, or watching/playing loud entertainment is annoying, especially in an enclosed space... and may even be distracting on smaller aircraft... But at the same time, flights are often several hours long (I think Perth to Sydney is about 4 hours or something, and I imagine coast to coast in the USA is similar... and Perth to London is nearly 24 hours)... I'm going to want my phone to keep me occupied and stop me from going crazy. But I am also super conscious of disturbing other people, so I'd definitely use something like airpods/galaxy buds/etc.

ETA: Just sent in an Ask Jerry question myself... something that has been burning on my mind since I bought my Pixel.

 

[Jerry Hildenbrand]

I like the rule because I don't want to hear other flyers making their calls. Plus aren't we flying in metal tubes? The only time calls would work would be takeoff and landing.

I thought the same, but while researching this I learned that calls can connect up to 12,000 feet over some networks

 

[SnowyRVulpix]

I thought the same, but while researching this I learned that calls can connect up to 12,000 feet over some networks

It's also worth pointing out Facetime, Facebook Messenger, Zoom, Skype, Discord and all those can be used to make "calls" over onboard wifi.

While I think using phones on planes should be a thing, I also think that anyone being rude by having loud calls (worse if speakerphone is used) should be banned from flying and treated as a disruptive passenger.

 

[emayekayee]

I think one of the overlooked issues is the geometry of how phones connect to networks as well. If you're at 35,000' above the ground, imagine how many cell towers are in your line of sight. Your phone sends an omnidirectional signal that pings each of those towers, but they attempt to respond using a directional signal that is meant to broadcast parallel to the earth's surface and can't reach you. Now imagine hundreds of passengers on hundreds of planes all pinging the same hundreds of towers and it becomes a bandwidth clogging capacity nightmare for the providers.
As an airline pilot I can say that there is virtually no signal interference from modern devices and the aircraft's electrical navigation and communication systems. Even the 5G/Radio Altimeter interference was more of an issue with the towers and not the passenger's personal devices. I also agree that every aspect of keeping the aircraft cabin decluttered during takeoff and landing (charging cables, laptops, seatbacks, etc.) seems like a silly inconvenience until you're on the one in a billion flight that needs to quickly evacuate due to an emergency.