Why Airplane mode

Ever wondered why during flights announcements are made to switch off mobile and other devices or switch to airplane mode..?? It can be sometimes frustrating when one is attending an urgent call and the flight attendants come and ask you to switch off the mobile phones. But, there is some reason to it and concern for passenger's safety is one of them.

Lets understand this better...

The short answer would be the devices like mobile phones, laptops when connected to a network can mess up and probably cause disturbances in the airplane's navigation and communication system. And we all can understand that any interruptions can lead to a fatalistic conclusion. 

The long answer would be, 

The radio frequency radiation emitted by these devices. When these devices emit radio waves they kind of come in contact with the channels which covers the airplane communication/navigation systems.

This creates a phenomenon called as Electromagnetic Interference.

Ever observed that when you take your cell phones near television and when there is any call coming or on-going there is a weird noise coming which goes off once you move away from the television.

This is exactly the interference happening between the waves emitted by two devices. Now just imagine how hundreds or thousands of passengers interrupting with the plane's communication and navigation system. How difficult and possibly fatal this would make for the ground staff, pilot, air traffic control to manage and communicate. Airplane systems rely heavily for the signals for communication and any disruption can cause a lot of problems not just for the pilots or the flight attendants but also for the passenger's own safety.

When we turn on the airplane mode all the wireless connectivity is turned off for the devices even the bluetooth is disabled which blocks everything rendering it void of any communication.

Nowadays though with advancements in technology, some airplanes do now provide with plane WIFI services for the passengers. Only restriction comes during the critical phased of the travel i.e. take off and landing. Possibly going ahead, there would be a lot of advancements and mechanisms for communications to be made in a more secure manner.

So, next time if there is a request made for phone to be turned off during air travel, let's understand it's for our own benefit. 

Well, those were some more insights for the curious mind. Until next time, remember the curious mind talks!!

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