REAL TALK: Will the plane crash if I don't switch my phone off?

Anyone who flies regularly knows the drill when it comes to mobile phones and flying.

You turn them off or you put them on flight mode, from boarding gate to luggage pick-up, lest your plane explodes in fire and brimstone, right? It’s just science.

If, however, you’ve played Angry Birds for the duration of a long haul flight only to realise your phone wasn’t on flight mode the whole time, then spent days wondering why the plane didn’t fall from the sky, this is why.

It just doesn’t happen. There’s simply no recorded incident of a mobile phone causing a plane crash.

Texting your mum on the tarmac? Lame, but not deadly.

That doesn't mean you should start taking calls mid-flight though, there's still a good reason for the rule.

While it's now commonly accepted you can leave your electronic devices on during take off and landing, your phone, tablets, laptop etc., still need to be in flight mode.

This is because their radio emissions interfere with the plane's on-board radio.

As a pilot explained in a recent blog post:

"If you ask me if phones interfere, I’ll say yes. If you ask if they’re dangerous… eh, not really.

"Phones can cause audible interference on the aircraft’s radios. You’ve probably heard this interference yourself when a phone is set near a speaker. It sounds like a 'dit-dit-dit-dit' tone and it’s pretty annoying. Anyone who has had to track down audio interference in a sound system understands."

Look, a phone left on isn't going to cause an engine to fall off, but it could distract a pilot at a crucial moment and, really,  is it worth the risk?

While we're on the topic, here's all the things flight attendants wish you knew about flying:

H/T Daily Mail