greenbears

what percentage of people actually put their smartphone/laptop(with built-in 3G, for example) into airplane mode while flying?

on more than a few occasions, I've hear the phones ring while the plane was flying... there was this guy sitting next to me not too long ago... he was using his Nokia smartphone and it rang. the flight attendant was only two row behind us and heard it. the guy told her "oh, I accidentally hit something when I was changing my ringtones, but it's cool, the phone is in airplane mode" The FA accepted that and left. guess what happened next? the guy covered his mouth and phone and said "don't call me now, I'm on a plane!" Not even sure how he got a signal, because I could swear that the plane was pretty high at the time...

bdesmond

I certainly do. If no other reason than I appreciate my phone having more than 3% battery left when I land.

cordelli

On a recent PS flight where there was an equipment change to a plane with no internet, it was a bit of a shock when I turned on my laptop to have it say there were wireless connections available, and there were three MiFi signals available. I didn't have clue that they would work from the plane.

efis123

I'll admit that I don't bother to put my blackberry in airplane mode, although I do use it only briefly in flight usually.

AbuDonut

My blackberry will send/receive data sometimes in flight but it is a serious drain on battery...I would rather have a charge when I get somewhere than get a few emails on the plane.

JClishe

+1

Leaving my phone on and not in airplane mode kills the battery.

adambadam

That could have been that people had just forgotten to turn off their units and they were in their bags. Just because there was a wifi signal on the plane doesn't mean the unit had a cellular connection at the time.

PTravel

I turn off my Blackberry and phone. If I use my computer, I turn off WiFi and Bluetooth.

farulg

I do turn off my iPhone and blackberry, simply to conserve battery life and money My wife forgot to turn her phone off on one of the long flights we had (AMS-KUL) and she received several "welcome" roaming SMS messages from the various countries we flew above. I'm surprised there's a signal 35000 feet in the air...

Paint Horse

Everything off.

4Health

I read something a few years ago that something like 100 cell towers could provide cell service to every plane in the country simply because there are no obstacles blocking the signal. I'm no cell expert though, so don't hold me to that.

Takire

One time I am taking pics inside the plane with my phone cam and the attendant asked me to turn it off even after I said its in airplane mode.

Vulcan

A couple of years ago I read an article that said approximately 30% of cell phones are accidentally left on during a flight.

I know it has happened to me more than once that I went to turn on my phone on landing and found it was already (still) on when I was sure I had turned it off.

ranshe

Left my phone on, kept hearing SMSs coming in and thinking "who's the idiot that didn't turn his phone off", then when we land I actually see all those SMSs and figure who that idiot was...
Now I make sure I turn everything off, mainly to save on battery usage (which is pretty bad on both my laptop & my BB)

gengar

I put my phone on airplane mode, as it drains battery when constantly trying to find a network. I rarely turn it off, though.