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Bristol Post
Bristol Post
World
Oscar Dayus

Air steward reveals real reason you should put your phone on airplane mode while flying

Most of us will be accustomed to the ritual of switching your phone to airplane mode when boarding a flight - as well as the mad scramble to turn it off again as soon as the aeroplane touches down.

But some may not be aware of the reason why we're asked to do so.

One social media star, who is also an air steward, has now lifted the lid on the reasoning behind the rule.

READ MORE: How to get 'special treatment' on flights, according to an air hostess

Posting on TikTok, Cierra Mistt explained: "There are approximately 45,000 flights that happen every single day, with around 2.9 million passengers on board.

"And how does all this flying happen successfully? Believe it or not, pilots actually aren't in charge of flying."

She went on to clarify: "Yes, they are the ones that are operating the plane, but from the moment the boarding door closes to the moment we're landing, the pilots are following specific instructions given to them by a group of people on the ground called air traffic control.

"Their job is basically to make sure planes take off and land successfully without running into one another."

She added: "In order for the pilot to be able to communicate with ATC, they use frequencies, which is what we use on our phones.

"Sometimes, frequencies can collide and cause a loss of signal completely.

"Now picture how bad it would be for a pilot who is taking directions from the ground, all of a sudden loses signal and starts flying blindly, all because of a frequency of a passenger's phone that intercepted it."

She finished off her advice by saying: "Long story short, put your phone on airplane mode."

The video has been watched 1.7 million times, attracting over 300,000 likes from Mistt's 2.8 million followers.

According to the BBC, there is evidence of this problem occurring in the real world. One incident showed a 30-degree error in navigation equipment due to a passenger's use of a portable DVD player. The error disappeared when the DVD player was turned off and reappeared when it was turned back on.

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