Why do you have to turn of all electronics during take off and landing?

Question

i understand why you cant have internet and cell phones because they interfere with communication, but why do you have to turn off things like ipods during take off and landing on planes?

Answer 1

Supposedly they also interfere with instruments and communication.  I guess "better safe than sorry."

Answer 2

because they emit radio frequencies or something like that can make the airplane go out of control, although this has never happened till now is a stupid safety matter.

Answer 3

Electronic items emit electromagnetic waves. These waves  interfere with air navigation and communication aids. Usually not due to just one radio or cell phone, but two or more in concert can generate strange sum and difference frequencies that might land on the landing system receive channel. Sometimes these cause disaster.

Answer 4

since the electronics receive and transmits radio waves,, these waves may interfere with the aircrafts navigation system thus giving false indication to the pilot...  example :

the pilot flies the glide slope of the horizontal situation indicator of the aircraft   to make it to the touch down point   if electronics are working with passengers  the glide slope may give false indications to the pilot  thus landing will be way out of runway center line....  very dangerous especially if flying in IFR conditions

Answer 5

Several reasons:

Some years ago, some of the designers of airborne radio equipment thought that the weak transmissions from an oscillator circuit in electronic games, etc. might interfere with their equipment. Almost all hand-held electronic devices have some kind of oscillator circuit. Aircraft radios, wiring, and antennas are shielded against this kind of erratic signal. Although there were some year-long trials on this, it was never proven that it was possible to cause interference from such devices. Even so, their use is still prohibited...just to err on the safety side.

As for cell phones, using one at altitude would hit quite a few cell towers simultaneously, thereby "hogging" frequency space that might be used by other callers. There's also a very slight chance that they could interfere with the aircraft radios, as above.

There's some movement right now to permit cell phone use on airliners, through their own on-board circuits.

Answer 6

People must not be preoccupied during take-off and landing so that in the event of an emergency, they can clearly hear instructions given by the Flight Attendants.

You are asked not to use any electronic devices, although some may be used after cruising altitude has been reached. Cell phones, wireless computer mouses, etc are banned for the duration of the flight. This is because they pose a risk called electromagnetic interference.

Electromagnetic interference is experienced by all of us on a regular basis. An example of this is if you put a cell phone near the computer, you can hear loud static in the computers speakers every time the phone rings, and the screen may start to shake. This technically should never happen, but the wire to each speaker is acting like an antenna, and it picks up side bands in the audible range. This is not a dire problem -- just a nuisance. But notice how common it is. In an airplane, the same phenomena can cause big trouble.

An airplane contains a number of radios for a variety of tasks. There is a radio that the pilots use to talk to ground control and air traffic control (ATC), a radio that the plane uses to disclose its position to ATC computers, there are radar units used for guidance and weather detection, and so on. All of these radios are transmitting and receiving information at specific frequencies. If someone were to turn on a cell phone, the cell phone would transmit with a great deal of power (up to 3 watts for a single phone). If it happens to create interference that overlaps with radio frequencies the plane is using, then messages between people or computers may be garbled. If one of the wires in the plane has damaged shielding, there is some possibility of the wire picking up the phone's signals just like a computers speakers do. That could create faulty messages between pieces of equipment within the plane. Now imagine what would happen if everyone on the plane were to use electronic devices, and you should be able to fully understand the ban on such devices.

Answer 7

i think it messes with their radios and all that electronic stuff.

Answer 8

I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with interference.  Takeoff and landings are the most likely time there could be an emergency and if everyone is listening to Ipods, it would take longer for flight crew to relay information.