Why Do You Have to Turn Off Electronic Devices on an Airplane?

You get in your seat, place your carry-on in the overhead bin, and put your phone in airplane mode. You are familiar with this ritual at this point. Everybody has a different theory about why you have to do it but have you ever wondered what the exact reason is?

Well, there is not a single answer to that question. The Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA for short, allows the in-flight use of electronic devices as long as the airline is okay with it. But the FCC doesn’t allow cell phone usage on planes to prevent disruption to cellular towers on the ground.

Components like radio altimeters which calculate the altitude the plane is flying in are also important for a safe flight. Some devices are actually known to interfere with these systems. In 1999, a passenger using their handheld DVD player caused the plane to deviate 30 degrees. The device was turned off as soon as possible and thankfully the plane made it to its destination safely but this event shows that the caution some companies take is not just superstition.

There are no recorded airplane crashes that were caused by cell phones. Still, the safety of everybody in the plane is too important for the airlines to take that risk.