Why do you have to turn off your phone during takeoff and landing?

Robt Betker: The main reason is they don't want mobile phones, tablets, laptops or any other handheld devices screwing with the sensitive navigation Equipment on board.I believe I read something about a move to provide shielding and other design features to accommodate passengers use of Wifi, but the expense is so far prohibitive.Put another way, what's better? Drowning because you don't know where the exit or your life jacket is? Causing the people in the cockpitt a nuisance by interfering with their the instruments that prevent you all being turned into mangled, jet fuel singed corpses? Or your bloody twitter updates?Airplane mode if fine for the takeoff and landing if it disables wifi and date traffic. They probably insist people turn them off because the are sick to death of ignorant selfish assholes yapping away on them and ignoring the flight crew while they are trying to make a safety announcement. As you have probably guessed, It's my pet hate. Someone has politel! y asked for your attention. The least people could do is give it to them, instead of tapping away on a bloody handheld and ignoring them....Show more

Conrad Puleio: If it is to prevent people from not paying attention, why would it matter if your phone is on airplane mode but is put away in your pocket or bag?

Mikel Bethay: Modern aircraft such as the Dreamliner are designed in such a way that their systems don't have any issues when you text or call people on a flight, which is why it has wifi as well. However, older airplanes such as the airbus a340 or 767, along with many others are at risk of having radio communications affected by the radioactivity. However, it's highly unlikely that this will happen and if it does, it's not going to jeopardise the aircraft. It's mainly to get you to pay attention. Ever wondered why you can't use cameras or MP3 players? even though they don't have a feature that's able to perform call or SMS functions? Simple; they want you! to pay attention in case there's an issue with the aircraft. ! Take off and landing are the most likely parts of a flight in which a crash or incident could occur, so they want you paying attention to announcements. The FAA tells airlines that it's compulsory to turn them completely off, but I don't think it makes any difference - if it's not transmitting or receiving anything, there's no harm done, so having it on airplane mode is fine. They usually exaggerate it because they have to.Hope this helps....Show more

Ty Kirton: They don't want anything to prevent people from listening to safety announcements over the PA, especially in case of a real emergency.