A video suddenly went viral because it showed a passenger on a Yeti Airlines plane that crashed in Nepal live streaming on Facebook. Isn't it dangerous to turn on a cellphone on an airplane? Here's the explanation.
The passenger in question is Sonu Jaiswal, who was live streaming via Facebook and showing the situation on the plane seconds before the crash.
Jaiswal was one of four passengers from Ghazipur, India, on the plane. In the video, you can see the area around Pokhara Airport from the plane before landing.
If Jaiswal does live streaming from inside the plane, this means he turns on cellular mode on his cellphone, unless Yeti Airlines offers WiFi service for internet connection in flight.
Using a cellular connection from inside an airplane is actually difficult, unless the plane has already lowered its altitude to land, which is what happened in this case. This is because the signal from the base transceiver station (BTS) is not designed to be captured by users who are at a certain height.
So, what's the danger of turning on a cellular connection on a cell phone during a flight? Why are passengers required to turn on "airplane mode" while on a flight?
The explanation that is often circulated today is that signal transmission from devices such as cellphones can interfere with navigation equipment on airplanes. However, the actual explanation is not that simple.
Quoted from us from Britannica, the first thing you need to know is how devices like cellphones work to be able to capture signals. To catch the signal, the HP will function like a small radio wave transmitter, with a maximum power -- usually -- 0.25W -- which functions to search for the nearest "tower" or BTS.
So when the cellphone is turned on without airplane mode, it will continue to send signal waves in all directions. This signal is considered to be able to interfere with electronic equipment, including in-flight navigation.
But in practice, sensitive electronic equipment on board is actually protected from signal wave interference like this. However, the signal issued by this cellphone can still interfere with pilots and other flight crews.
Because the signal is sometimes caught by the headset they use to communicate. Have you ever heard a sound coming from the speaker when you are near a cell phone that is receiving a phone call? Yes, more or less, like that disturbance.
So it is very likely that the ban on the use of cellphones on airplanes was carried out for this reason. Although actually there are aviation agencies that have lifted the ban on the use of electronic devices on board, for example the European Aviation Safety Agency lifted the ban in 2014.
As a solution, now there are several flights that offer cellular connections on the plane using the 5G network at certain frequencies that are considered not to interfere with other components on the plane.
This 5G network is deployed using a device called a picocell which can provide a cellular network with limited coverage. While the internet connection comes from a connection to a satellite in outer space.