An American Airlines pilot has responded to air passengers' scepticism over the importance of switching all mobile devices completely off when instructed to do so on a flight.
Why Complete Shutdown Matters
If you have ever travelled by plane, you have likely heard cabin crew instructing you to turn off your mobile devices. While many are sceptical about the significance of the advice, an airline pilot has explained why passengers are told to do so from time to time.
American Airlines' Captain Steve, known on social media as @CaptainSteeeve, took to TikTok in response to a follower who queried why she had recently been asked to switch her mobile phone off completely rather than place it into Airplane Mode. 'There's a good reason for that,' responded the pilot.
He elaborated on the scenario: 'If you are in bad weather and you are going down to minimums, many of their airlines have in their operating procedures to make a PA that you turn everything off in the back of the plane.'
But why? 'It's so there isn't any possibility that there's any sort of interference with the navigation equipment,' Captain Steve pointed out.
The History of Airplane Mode
As for turning Airplane Mode on, he advised this instruction dates back to the 1990s when mobile phones began to become a common possession. 'Back then they did some tests and there was some indication that all of those devices in the back of the aeroplane - that long metal tube you're in - could cause some interference to the navigation,' Captain Steve continued.
However, he went on to claim above 10,000 feet it's 'not really that big of a deal', but at lower altitudes when you are preparing to land it's a different story. 'You want to be lined up precisely on that runway and if you're in bad weather and can't see out until the last second when the plane is about to touch down, you don't want to have a surprise when you break out from the clouds,' Captain Steve said.
Therefore, it is in pilots' best interests to have as little interference as possible to their navigation equipment. 'So when the weather is bad, let's say they are going to do an auto-land - what's called a "cat 3 landing" - into fog or bad weather, the pilot may come on and say, "Folks, I need you to turn everything off",' Captain Steve added.
He closed by reiterating: 'If you hear that on the PA from the captain, absolutely go and turn everything off. It's very important that you do that.'
Public Reactions
Writing in response, one TikTok user mused: 'The sad thing about all this is that we're depending on all the rest of the people in that aircraft to actually do the right thing and listen - that's scary.'
A second person pointed out: 'If my $400 iPad can interfere with the avionics and control systems of your $170M aircraft... that's a problem. They probably can't, but just the fact that it's a consideration is a problem.'
Meanwhile, a third still had reservations. 'The early analogue phones caused interference occasionally,' they wrote. 'The new digital smart phones cause zero interference.'
