Turning phone off on flight

Just wondering if any one can explain this to me as I've never heard this before.

I can easily explain the turning off of your mobile phone to prevent turbulence. I can explain it as being a load of bollox.

My only guess is that english was not the flight attendants first language and they confused the words turbulence and interferance.

We had to do it once on a particular flight - someone (who was not me, no most definitely not) accidentally put his phone into Hotspot mode instead of Flight mode just before takeoff. Buttons right next to each other. So a request came for all mobile phones to be switched off.

Whoever that person was must have been terribly embarrassed when they realised

The number one reason for this rule was when phones were analog they could cause intereference because the further the way they got from base stations, the more they pumped out. It doesn't happen as much with digital signals, but the excuse that phones can interfere with the navigation system is still used because they dont want people talking on their phone during flights.

If they did, incidents of air-rage would, no pun intended, sky rocket. Imagine you are trying to get some sleep on a long flight and someone is yakking away on their phone? There'd be murders in-flight.

Long may it last, IMO.

Several incidents which might be indicative of phones interfering with aircraaft sysytems are indicated here:

The global aviation safety jury is out on this matter. Some aircraft operate on older systems subject to interference on several levels. Certainly if you are sitting up front a good rule of thumb is to desist. Airlines like to charge a lot for calls made over their on-flight WIFI which is facilitated by satellite. It costs a LOT. If you’ve ever tried in-flight WIFI , it’s absolutely woeful and gets traffic jammed very easily in my experience.

It has never been proven that a mobile signal interferes with air navigation systems.a request to turn off mobile phones is a precaution only and as another said it prevents air rage incidents.

I came across this, first result when googling

https://choicecommunications.ie/why-are-mobile-phones-banned-at-petrol-stations-in-ireland/

In short:

No Mobile Phones. So what is that about? Is it in case you get distracted while pumping your fuel...? No, it’s once again to do with static electricity. 

Are there any Mobile Phones safe to use around petrol pumps?

Yes. You need a mobile phone that is Intrinsically Safe. These devices are what is called ATEX rated. In other words they have been designed and tested to work in dangerous areas where the risk of fire and explosion is high....

We supply a range of ATEX rated smartphones by Conquest

I too always smile when I get massages, but Thailand not Greece :)

Absolute and complete BS. Written by a company that wants to flog you something you don't need.

Do not believe stuff just because it comes up 1st on google.

Here's what the FCC says "The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) states there is no evidence that these reports are true. While it may be “theoretically possible for a spark from a cell phone battery to ignite gas vapor,” the FCC concludes the potential threat is remote."

And snopes - https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/fuelish-pleasures/

They can be a distraction and even with auto cut off, fuel can spill out. And it is this reason why it is recommended that phones are not used while refueling.

People create scare stories and these catch the imagination of the public and then become "fact". But cell phones don't cause fuel station fires, they don't cause aircraft issue and chalk outside your house / cable tie on your gate / yellow ribbon on your tree does not mean your dog / cat will be stolen by travellers nor will it be burgled that night.

But no matter how you show people that these are myths, too many people will still believe it - hundreds of thousands still believe the earth is flat!

They cost an absolute fortune in the airlines that provide services.

Below is an article which comprehensively explains questions asked here. For anyone to suggest it’s “rubbish” regarding threat in air safety, it is known that it could theoretically pose a risk but to date there has been no aircraft accident attributed to this.

Mythbusters had an episode around this a good few years ago (full episode here), from memory on unshielded systems or wiring or some analogue gauges, mobile phones can cause interference but when they tested it on a relatively new (possibly early 2000s?) plane, they couldn't affect the systems. I think they basically put it down to every system needing to be tested with every phone on sale to be absolutely sure it won't cause issues and it's just not worth the hassle. Surely people can last the average length of a flight with their phone on airplane mode?

Yes I remember passengers on some of the planes involved in 9/11 making calls to family members.

Did they frequently cause arguments? Judging by public transport these days, where people regularly suffer in silence through other passengers putting calls on loudspeaker and playing (usually awful) music at full blast I'm not sure it would cause many rows.

In Ryanair,when aircraft autoland is taking place the captain instructs cabin crew to make an announcement to the passengers about the phones to be turned off completely

That's a fair point, I hadn't thought about the difference in duration.