Flight attendant explains the important reason your phone has to be in airplane mode

A flight attendant with more than a decade of experience flying as cabin crew has revealed the very real reason why you have to put your phone in to airplane mode when jetting off - and it has a rather bizarre link to the Furby children's toy.

Whether you're a seasoned traveller of heading in to the skies for the very first time, dozens of people will reach in to their pockets and put their phones on airplane mode when the in-flight cabin crew tell you to do so on the aircraft speaker system.

Basically, it is easy to forget given how much we rely on our phones for the smallest of tasks in everyday life - which when at the airport includes posting those 4am pints to the 'gram.

But there's a very important reason we're not allowed to use our phones outside of airplane mode when flying through the skies.

Mandy Smith, a cabin crew member for more than 12 years, spoke to LADbible about why we can't use our phones to ring someone or access the internet via mobile network (4G/5G) while 30,000 feet up.

Mandy sat down with LADbible TV to answer your questions a recent episode of Honesty Box where she gave some very honest answers about life working in the sky.

Mandy Smith. (LADbible TV)

And yes, that includes what happens when people are caught joining the mile high club.

She also detailed the exact things you should do to try and make your chances of a free upgrade increased.

"Is airplane mode necessary? Right," Mandy says when reading one of the cards in the box of questions she's presented with.

"I'm guessing you're meaning on your iPads, and laptops, and mobile phones?

"If you're aware that the airplane mode needs to be on, please do so, because this is to prevent us losing the signal from a beacon."

Mandy says: "So, radio beacons. Say a radio beacon would be there, and you're coming into land or taking off, and that would signify as to where the ground is and the ground level.

"The aircraft's following that beacon and it would come in.

"So, any other radio signals, such as mobile phones, and even Furbies - they used to ban Furbies back in the day - are not allowed, because they could interfere with that signal."

Things could be changing soon, though, following a ruling by the European Union (EU).

Could we soon use 5G on all flights? (Getty Stock Images)

Back in 2022, the EU ruled that passengers should soon be able to use their phones to their full effect when flying.

The European Commission ruled that airlines can now provide 5G on board aircraft.

To stop interference with radio towers and traffic control, plans will be made to install 'pico-cells' that mean the communications systems between a plane and the ground remain on a separate list.