Why do you need to turn off all your electronic devices before an airplane takes off and lands?
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3Of interest at Skeptics: Are personal electronics a risk to commercial aviation?, and here at Why have they announced to turn off phones while they are explicitly allowed? and the older Can I stop a fellow passenger from using their cell phone during take off? and Mobile phones must be turned off while the plane is being refueled? – choster Nov 8 '18 at 16:55
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2Welcome to TSE. One of the expectations of Stack Exchange is that you demonstrate your initial attempts at research. This topic is perhaps one of the most-discussed travel subjects of the last decade, so it would behoove you to show, for example, what a basic web search turns up from reliable sources. I strongly encourage you to take the site tour and review the help center for additional guidance. – choster Nov 8 '18 at 17:05
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2When was the last time all devices had to be turned off on take off and landing? In Europe they ask you to stow away the big items, but hand held items can be used all the time. – Willeke♦ Nov 8 '18 at 18:01
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2Downvoting as the question, as it stands, seems to suggest this happens to all flights flown (and maybe by 2018), which is quite easy to be shown false. It requires narrowing in scope. – B.Liu Nov 8 '18 at 18:19
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4I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it belongs to Aviation.SE. – Hanky Panky Nov 9 '18 at 2:22
There are at least three reasons:
Reduce electromagnetic interference from any electronic devices. Less of a concern these days but a holdover from when someone might have a poorly shielded radio or tv or electric razor.
Have passengers put everything away so that nothing can become an inadvertent missile in the case of turbulence or a crash landing. Takeoffs and landings are the most dangerous time of flight and a laptop could easily fly out of your hands and seriously hurt or kill someone if it hit them in the head at speed.
Have everyone’s hands free and relatively focused. Aisles and rows also have to be cleared of luggage that was taken out. If you’ll notice, this is when they do the s afety briefing.
Now none of the measures are perfect or foolproof. Laptops have to be stowed but books are just as heavy. Sleeping passengers aren’t woken. But aircraft safety is about reducing the likelihood of an accident as much as reasonably possible and not necessarily reducing it to zero.
Electrical devices could potentially interfere with the electronics of the plane. (Find a non-digital VHF radio. Put a mobile phone next to it. Every now and then the radio reception may be degraded by a buzzing sound.) The effects of any interference would be most serious if the plane is near the ground, when the pilots have little time to react to problems.
With a properly designed and properly constructed modern device, that is almost impossible. With an improperly designed or damaged device, it becomes somewhat more likely. So the rules are there to reduce this risk.
