IMPORTANCE OF AIRPLANE MODE ON A PHONE DURING A FLIGHT

In top-notch TED-Ed lessons written by Dr. Lindsay DeMarch, director Sophia Pashaei, and  narrator Addison Anderson explain why it's important to put your phone on "flight mode" when you board an airplane. Airplane mode certainly saves everyone on the plane  from loud phone conversations, but the real reason to turn it off is the radio signals emitted by active phones and the wavelengths they receive for important flights. It's all about how you interfere with  information.

"Right now, invisible signals are flying through the air all around you. Massive radio waves carry information between computers, GPS systems, cell phones, and more. And the sky is flooded with interference from routers, satellites, and, of course, people flying who haven’t put their phones on airplane mode... You see, this setting isn’t to protect your flight, it’s to protect everyone else in your flight path. Cell phones connect to networks by emitting information in the form of electromagnetic waves; specifically, radio waves, which occupy this band of the electromagnetic spectrum. …So when you fly without using airplane mode, you’re essentially acting as a military radio jammer— sending out giant radio waves that interfere with nearby signals."