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The reason you need to use ‘Flight Mode’ on airplanes is more boring than you thought

Published 08:00 18 Aug 2018 BST

Updated 08:14 18 Aug 2018 BST

Tony Cuddihy
The reason you need to use ‘Flight Mode’ on airplanes is more boring than you thought

Homelife

Every day's a school day.

Each time we take a flight and are asked to switch our phones to 'Flight Mode,' we assume it's because leaving it on normal mode would cause the plane to break in half and plunge us to our watery death below. Well, that's not the case at all. The reason it's important to switch off your phone signal is a lot more banal than we thought. It could cause the pilot to get a headache. An anonymous pilot told the question and answer site Quora: 'You may have heard that unpleasant noise from an audio system, that occasionally happens when a mobile phone is nearby. 'I actually hear such noise on the radio while flying. It is not safety critical, but is annoying for sure.' Ron You probably know the sound he's talking about - next time you're beside a radio, put your phone next to it and get someone to call you. You'll hear a buzzing noise that only goes away when the phone stops ringing. Now, imagine that at 10,000 feet in your headphones while you're trying to get clearance for landing.

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The reason you need to use 'Flight Mode' on airplanes is more boring than you thought