Partsun Blog

Why It Is Ruled to Turn off Your Phone When Flying

It is a common sense that one must keep your cellphone off when on a plane. However, some people are confused that why it is not allowed to set one’s cellphone in airplane mode in place of turning off one’s phone.

Actually airplane is mainly guided by electromagnetic wave. If interfered by electromagnetic wave, airplane navigation equipment may lose control. Moreover, the electromagnetic wave frequency of cellphones has similar part with that of airplane. In some cases, plane may mistake the electromagnetic wave of passengers’ phones for the signal from control tower to result to faulty operation, which is dangerous. For an example, electromagnetic wave from passengers’ phones may interfere in the formal signal from the airplane control tower when the airplane receives the command to rise up. In this case the airplane probably carries out the order to fall down, leading a tragic of colliding with another plane.

After setting an airplane mode, the part of GSM﹨GPRS will be off and won’t send signal to BS. But you still can use non-communication functions.

So why one isn’t able to set the airplane mode since it is equal to shutdown?

At present only phone vendors consider it effect-free when taking a plane. However, CAAC haven’t made a test for the airplane mode. Though in principle it has little effect on the plane, nobody could ensue it is completely safe when setting an airplane mode in flying. For CAAC, safety is always the first.

Besides, we can’t guarantee all airplane mode is real. After all, fortress machines are around every corner and many a phone can’t reach the standard.

What does the airplane mean?

Since the airplane mode is useless, why this function is attached on cellphones? Surely it is just manufactures’ ideas.

Nevertheless, the airplane mode can still make a difference when you don’t want to answer your girlfriend’s phone or boyfriend’s phone. And if you feel like playing games when the power is not efficient, you can try the airplane mode to save electricity.