Why Cell Phones are Banned on Airplanes

We all know cell phones function on airplanes. It’s just the fascism of air control that keeps us from happy communication in the sky.

Or is it?

From BuzzFeed:

“It seems a lot of people believe that the cellphone ban during takeoff and landing is safety related, and mandated by the FAA. It’s not.

The FCC had the ban implemented because as planes fly along, full of hundreds of passengers, their phones simultaneously jump from one tower’s coverage to the next. As the cell systems are ancient, this can cause the network to crash.

So the ban is a result of cellphone providers terrible infrastructure, and not because your phone could cause the aircraft to fall out of the sky.”

So it’s not a problem of control, it’s a problem of ancient infrastructure. Comforting.