Using a mobile phone on a plane

Golda Meir

I realize that all gadgets, like phones and laptops, must be switched off during take off and landing, but am I allowed to have my phone switched on during the flight? It's just that my phone is also my mp3 player and I'd like to listen to music. Yet I don't want to interfere with the plane's communication systems and cause a crash lol

the_syco

If the phone is in anyway new, there should be an "aeroplane mode" that switches off the cellular device in the phone, therefore converting the "phone" into a movie/MP3 player.

And by "anyway new", I mean if it was made in the last five years.

L1011

If your phone is in any way recent, it will have a flight mode that turns off all the transmitters. If you turn this on before powering the phone off for takeoff you're allowed power the phone back on during flight.

Realistically, there's minimal chance of interference from a phone in cruise anyway - there is more chance of a plane of 200 phones causing the phone networks on ground to go down as they jump from cell to cell every few seconds. This is why you're allowed use them without flight mode on planes that have their own phone cell - Ryanair trialled this a few years ago and its common in the US.

Golda Meir

Ah you're right. Apparently my phone does have a flight mode but it's hidden deep in the menus. I had to google my phone model plus flight mode to discover it. Thanks for the replies.