Photo: Getty Images
Aviation experts gave varying accounts on what happens if you don't switch your phone to airplane mode during a flight, despite warnings to do so.
Pilot and flight instructor Gary Coxe told Travel + Leisure "not a darn thing" will happen if a person stays off airplane mode, which was echoed by anther source described as being a Washington-based airline mechanic. Another former pilot and U.S. Army veteran who goes by @PerchPoint on @TikTok, had previously shared a viral video explaining that keeping a phone on wouldn't cause issues with the plane but would potentially mess with the pilots' headsets.
"The airplane mode button on your phone is not a conspiracy," he said before explaining that failing to switch it on isn't "the end of the world" and "the plane will not fall out of the sky" but it does "have the potential to mess with the headsets."
"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," he added. "There's potential that those radio waves can interfere with the radio waves of the headsets that the pilots are using."
Pilots use the headsets to hear intel from the control tower due to limited visibility, especially during take-off and landing, when the majority of aviation-related accidents take place. The Federal Aviation Administration declined to confirm whether they knew of any incidents in which a passenger's phone caused an accident, however, reiterated that cell phone use is only allowed in flight and prohibited during take-off and landing.