One of the big changes that this 2023 that has just begun will bring is the end of airplane mode, so passengers will be able to have their electrical devices turned on with the data activated so that they can use 5G.
One of the most widespread beliefs is that its use in the flight phase was previously restricted because it was dangerous, so there will be people who are more afraid after the change in regulations, considering that flights will be more dangerous than before the change in regulations. . Is it so?
goodbye to airplane mode
Until now, anywhere in the world through the public address system they will ask us to turn off our mobile phones and electronic devices before takeoff (or at least put them in airplane mode), so that the pilots’ communications are not affected and they can be put at risk. to the aircraft and the rest of the passengers.
However, in a decision made by the European Union, on flights between its members it will not be necessary to activate what is known precisely as “airplane mode”, since the airlines will be able to provide 5G technology according to the European Commission.
This can be implemented before June 30, 2023. “In accordance with the amended Implementing Decision, Member States shall make the 5 GHz frequency bands available to road vehicles as soon as possible and no later than , on June 30, 2023».
Since 2008, the Commission Implementing Decision has reserved certain frequencies for mobile communications on aircraft, allowing airlines to provide messaging, phone calls and data services to passengers flying within the European Union.
“The service is provided within the cabin of an aircraft equipped using special network equipment, the so-called ‘pico-cell’, to connect users and en route calls, texts and data, typically via a network satellite, between the aircraft and the terrestrial mobile network’.
In this way, passengers on European Union flights will be able to use their mobile phones to the fullest of their capacity and characteristics, as well as a ground-based 5G mobile network.
Is it dangerous to use 5G on a flight?
There have been no confirmed accidents in aviation history due to the use of mobile phones or other electronic devices by passengers during the flight in the entire time that the restriction on the use of electronic devices has lasted.
As German aviation expert Cord Schellenberg said in the national newspaper Welt: “If it were really dangerous to use mobile phones on the plane during takeoff and landing, airlines would confiscate mobile phones or ban them altogether.” .
In reality, the ban on mobile phones is more a matter of comfort than safety, because constant handling of a mobile can become a nuisance for other passengers and also for pilots.
For the latter, mobile phones on board an aircraft generate a noise similar to that of a buzz and that reaches up to 8W of power, so this noise is perceived both by the pilots themselves and by air traffic controllers. The airports.
