For decades now, part of aeroplane protocol is being instructed to switch your mobile photo onto 'Airplane Mode' - a setting that turns off all internet and signal capabilities.
But have you ever sat and wondered why exactly this is even necessary? Well, if so, worry not - because one pilot has today set the record straight on the matter...
For as long as smart phones have been in existence, we've been told to abide by strict instructions about their use in the air travel arena.
Advert
The famous 'Airplane Mode' prompt usually occurs during the automated in-flight safety announcement, but airline staff also aren't afraid to call you out if you're spotted chatting away on your mobile during take off, or scrolling through your socials.
But why is this measure even necessary in the first place? Surely it can't possibly interfere technology as sophisticated as that of an aircraft, can it? Well... actually, it can.
That's what one pilot - known online as @perchpoint - is now saying anyway, in a video which has this week gone viral online and racked up a staggering 2,000,000 views.
"The airplane mode button on your phone is not a conspiracy," he firstly declared, quickly outlining, however, that forgetting switch on 'Airplane Plane' will not 'cause the plane to fall out the sky'.
That said, if forgotten on a mass scale - with a batch of passengers continuing to roam and scroll online - he said this can affect the pilot's radio communications with the control tower.
Advert
Not only could this stop landing directions and emergency instructions from being transmitted, but it can cause a pile up on the runway in the worst of cases.
"If you have an aircraft with 70, 80, 150 people on board, and even three or four people’s phones start to try to make a connection to a radio tower for an incoming phone call, it sends out radio waves," the captain explained.
"There’s the potential that those radio waves can interfere with the radio waves of the headset that the pilots are using."
And before you start doubting the truth in the pilot's claims, he even went on to recall a recent incident where a message he was supposed to receive regarding 'clearance on which way to go' got distorted due to interference with someone's mobile device.
Advert
Instead, he was left battling a 'mosquito' sound ringing in his ears.
"It’s definitely not the end of the world but it’s pretty annoying when you’re trying to copy down instructions and it sounds like there’s a wasp or something flying around," the social media pilot
"So if you’re ever curious why you’ve got to put on airplane mode, that’s why."
Rhianna Benson