Everyone knows the drill, the minute you’re on board, you make sure your phone is on airplane mode. Because, if not, the pilot cannot contact the control tower. Or, because the plane will blow up mid-flight. Or something like that.

But now one pilot is debunking all those myths and paranoias. And there’s a really simple reason behind it: it gives the pilot a headache. Yes, apparently if you do not turn your phone to airplane mode, the sound can be picked up in the cockpit and can be irritating to the pilots’ ears.

An anonymous pilot told the question and answer site Quora: “Your phone will probably annoy a few pilots and air traffic controllers. But, most likely, not badly enough for them to take action against you…

“You may have heard that unpleasant noise from an audio system, that occasionally happens when a mobile phone is nearby.”
“I actually hear such noise on the radio while flying. It is not safety critical, but is annoying for sure.”

However, he continues by saying that if 50 people on the plane did not turn their phone onto airplane mode, it would cause a lot of “radio pollution”.

So next time you’re near a radio, put your phone down beside it and you’ll hear what he means.