We board the plane and before taking off we are given a series of rules to travel comfortably and without complications. Among them, cell phones and other mobile devices are required to be put on ‘airplane mode‘.
For some passengers, staying offline until reaching the destination represents frustration. While there are sixty-minute flights, there are also some that are eight or even 16 hours long. Is it worth putting the cell phone in airplane mode? We tell you.
Through an article published in The Conversation, Doug Drury, professor and chief of aviation points out the real reason why we have to ‘unplug’ our devices. Although technology has advanced since the invention of cell phones until today, apparently they still cannot coexist with airplanes.
As Drury explains, navigation and aviation communications still rely on radio servicesso it has taken extensive work from 1920 to now to minimize interference.
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Digital technology is much more advanced than some of the older analog technologies that air units still work with, so the electromagnetic interference that a phone generates can lead to an accident.
It has been shown that electronic devices can emit a signal within the same frequency band as the aircraft’s communications and navigation systems,” the chief of aviation tells The Conversation.
But that’s not the real problem
To combat this complication, reserved frequency bandwidths were created for different uses, such as mobile phones and air navigation. With this, each technology would navigate on its channel without interfering with each other.
In contrast, it seems that there is still interference even with these implementations. The reason? Something we do not expect: the ground. According to Doug, the real problem—and why airplane mode is still maintained—comes from below.
Wireless networks are connected by a series of towers that could become overloaded if passengers flying over them use their phones. In fact, although 5G is expected to help the planet, there is a greater risk of the aforementioned happening.
What happens if the wireless networks of the towers are overloaded? It would affect not only one flight, but all the planes that are near the towers. Their navigation systems would be affected and they would even have trouble landing.
Finally, the expert points to a third reason why we are asked to use airplane mode: The social experience. Having the majority of passengers talking on the phone, on a video call or watching TikToks can make the trip hell.
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