What happens if no one turns on airplane mode on a full commercial flight?
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20 years ago GPS systems were less accurate and more prone to interference, as were basic communications systems, like the radios a pilot used to speak to the ground. The technology at the time (which was 2G, I think) would cause intense blasts of static, like this: [https://www.youtube.com/shorts/rODbnb1_uaE](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/rODbnb1_uaE) The worst case here is that: information from the ground is misheard, information from the ground isn’t heard at all, or information can’t be transmitted to/from the ground in an emergency.
There were at the time conflicting debates about which systems were affected and to what to degree. Obviously, the industry and relevant authorities wouldn’t have wanted to risk any danger to the passengers or crew, so it was easier to simply prohibit use of phones and/or enforce airplane mode rather than identify which planes had what and use different rules for different flights.
Things have now moved on technologically: the phones use a different technology (3/4/5G) as can/do the radio masts that are used to transmit calls/texts. There are even things called picocells which are miniature masts (simplifying here) about the size of a shoebox and can be used on planes to help direct that traffic and reduce interference. The issue however is the same as before: lots of variance in planes and their respective aviation electronics, in addition to the new problem of technology advancing at a pace faster than we can test for issues – in short, it’s still easier (and cheaper!) to have a catch-all rule.
With all that said, we are now technologically far enough away from the issues of 20 years ago that the risk is small enough to allow all phone use (calls/texts) on flights than can install and use these 5G mini-masts onboard. In June of this year the EU opted (or was in the process of last I checked) to legislate this as standard. To actually answer your question, unless you’re on one of these magical 5G planes, there is still some amount of risk to the systems that run the plane, even if it’s small or unlikely.
Edit: spelling is hard.
That same thing that will happen if you don’t turn your cell phone off before you pump gas.
i.e. nothing
Navigation and control electronics are rigorously tested regarding external EMI (electro-magnetic interference). Navigation is primarily GPS these days and it is pretty obvious that cell phones don’t interfere with the inexpensive GPS receivers in phones, why should they affect the expensive, heavily tested GPS receivers in planes?
The original analog cell phones had a much higher output and also caused issues with connecting to many towers at once. Aviation has always been hugely conservative so the ban lasted for a long time after it was proven to be a non-issue.
20 years ago GPS systems were less accurate and more prone to interference, as were basic communications systems, like the radios a pilot used to speak to the ground. The technology at the time (which was 2G, I think) would cause intense blasts of static, like this: [https://www.youtube.com/shorts/rODbnb1_uaE](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/rODbnb1_uaE) The worst case here is that: information from the ground is misheard, information from the ground isn’t heard at all, or information can’t be transmitted to/from the ground in an emergency.
There were at the time conflicting debates about which systems were affected and to what to degree. Obviously, the industry and relevant authorities wouldn’t have wanted to risk any danger to the passengers or crew, so it was easier to simply prohibit use of phones and/or enforce airplane mode rather than identify which planes had what and use different rules for different flights.
Things have now moved on technologically: the phones use a different technology (3/4/5G) as can/do the radio masts that are used to transmit calls/texts. There are even things called picocells which are miniature masts (simplifying here) about the size of a shoebox and can be used on planes to help direct that traffic and reduce interference. The issue however is the same as before: lots of variance in planes and their respective aviation electronics, in addition to the new problem of technology advancing at a pace faster than we can test for issues – in short, it’s still easier (and cheaper!) to have a catch-all rule.
With all that said, we are now technologically far enough away from the issues of 20 years ago that the risk is small enough to allow all phone use (calls/texts) on flights than can install and use these 5G mini-masts onboard. In June of this year the EU opted (or was in the process of last I checked) to legislate this as standard. To actually answer your question, unless you’re on one of these magical 5G planes, there is still some amount of risk to the systems that run the plane, even if it’s small or unlikely.
Edit: spelling is hard.
That same thing that will happen if you don’t turn your cell phone off before you pump gas.
i.e. nothing
Navigation and control electronics are rigorously tested regarding external EMI (electro-magnetic interference). Navigation is primarily GPS these days and it is pretty obvious that cell phones don’t interfere with the inexpensive GPS receivers in phones, why should they affect the expensive, heavily tested GPS receivers in planes?
The original analog cell phones had a much higher output and also caused issues with connecting to many towers at once. Aviation has always been hugely conservative so the ban lasted for a long time after it was proven to be a non-issue.
Nothing. Or nothing of any consequence, at least. I’m gonna let you in on a secret right now. If mobile phones were dangerous for aeroplanes, we wouldn’t be allowed to carry them at all.
Nothing. Or nothing of any consequence, at least. I’m gonna let you in on a secret right now. If mobile phones were dangerous for aeroplanes, we wouldn’t be allowed to carry them at all.
Usually nothing. Airplane systems are very robust. The only thing that might happen is your phone will get hot and lose battery quickly while trying to talk to the antennas on the ground.
Some more detail which goes further than the ELI5-take:
The only risk that remains apart from your phone desperately turning up it’s power to try to make a connection, is it messing with airplane altitude sensors. Not the usual ones that work with pressure, but those that work with radio waves. Unfortunately, the waves that have always been used for those radio altitude sensors are now also used for 5G phone connection because the phone companies bought them. The airplanes are going to keep using those waves too, but now, if you have a 5G enabled phone not in airplane mode during landing, the following could happen: 5G antennas use a new technology, basically it directs its power to the phone it’s trying to communicate with. What that means is that the waves from the phone antenna is pointed directly at the aircraft, which has been proven to mess with the radio altitude sensors. During landing, this could be very dangerous.
This is only a problem in the US, almost everywhere else in the world these frequencies are reserved for the aviation sector, and that’s why at some US-airports with these special antennas installed, airplanes can’t rely on their radio altitude sensors. This solution could still lead to a dangerous situation, for example in bad weather, where the pilots have to rely on that sensor to know where they are. But that’s just how it is now, unfortunately.
Source: Studying aviation engineer with a personal affinity in electronics and data communication.
Probably nothing, but let’s please keep that quiet, before you know it you’ll have phone signal on planes and my one sanctuary from disturbance will be gone.
Usually nothing. Airplane systems are very robust. The only thing that might happen is your phone will get hot and lose battery quickly while trying to talk to the antennas on the ground.
Some more detail which goes further than the ELI5-take:
The only risk that remains apart from your phone desperately turning up it’s power to try to make a connection, is it messing with airplane altitude sensors. Not the usual ones that work with pressure, but those that work with radio waves. Unfortunately, the waves that have always been used for those radio altitude sensors are now also used for 5G phone connection because the phone companies bought them. The airplanes are going to keep using those waves too, but now, if you have a 5G enabled phone not in airplane mode during landing, the following could happen: 5G antennas use a new technology, basically it directs its power to the phone it’s trying to communicate with. What that means is that the waves from the phone antenna is pointed directly at the aircraft, which has been proven to mess with the radio altitude sensors. During landing, this could be very dangerous.
This is only a problem in the US, almost everywhere else in the world these frequencies are reserved for the aviation sector, and that’s why at some US-airports with these special antennas installed, airplanes can’t rely on their radio altitude sensors. This solution could still lead to a dangerous situation, for example in bad weather, where the pilots have to rely on that sensor to know where they are. But that’s just how it is now, unfortunately.
Source: Studying aviation engineer with a personal affinity in electronics and data communication.
Probably nothing, but let’s please keep that quiet, before you know it you’ll have phone signal on planes and my one sanctuary from disturbance will be gone.
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