Reasons Why we can’t use phone in an airplane

Have you ever wondered why we are always asked to turn off ALL our ELECTRONIC DEVICES especially our PHONES when boarding an aircraft before takeoff, or face the wrath of the flight attendants? But why? Is your phone really interfering with the plain navigating system? Unfortunately, the answer isn't that clear.

From the initial research made, the reason for potential safety concerns is due to the fact that when you’re more than 10,000 feet in the air, your cell phone signal bounces off multiple towers and sends out a stronger signal. This is something that might congest the networks on the ground. But, there has never been a case of a cell phone causing a plane to crash.

It's was revealed that it not necessarily that a phone can bring down an airplane, but the issue is that it interfering with the airplane and causing more work for the pilots during critical phases of flight. When they take off and when they land, those are phases of flight that require a high level of concentration by the pilots.

Some major airlines have gone through some assessment and actually allow in-flight calls to be made through on-board cellular network companies. Those companies serve major airlines like Emirates, Virgin, British Airways, and at least 27 others.

The FAA bans the use of cell phones for safety reasons. FAA regulations prohibit anything that intentionally emits a signal, which includes cells phones used for voice communications. It would be up to an airline to demonstrate that a call phone does not cause electronic interference. Cell phones cause electronic interference.

Technology that can be installed directly on an airplane is now available to prevent such interference and has already been deployed successfully in many other countries around the world without incident. This is purely a technical decision; it will, if adopted, allow airline carriers free to develop any in-flight phone usage policy they may wish, consistent with applicable rules.

For the moment, it goes without saying that if you are a passenger on an airline and are asked to turn off an electronic device for any reason, whether you believe it to be valid or not, you should comply. Not only will doing so ensure the safety of your flight but will allow you to have some hours of peace and quiet on your plane ride.

SOURCE:

travelandleisure.com