Please turn off.

"Any mobile devices, as they may interfere with the aircraft's navigational system."

Alec Baldwin was tossed from a plane ( not literally ) last year for refusing to stop playing a game on his phone during take off and it caused an incident because he was defying airline safety rules. We've all been there, with one more text needing to be sent before the plane takes off, one more goodbye to say before the plane door shuts and an urgent call that can't wait for the tyres to hit the airport runway on landing. So do we really have cause for concern, our technology will bring down aircraft or is everyone too scared to push that envelope with a 50 kilogram gate keeper handing out coffee and tea?

The airline restrictions on the use of technology date back to the early 90s, when mobile phones weighed more than a brick, all computers were beige and apple was still a fruit. To err on the side of caution, airlines used anecdotal evidence from pilots and flight crew, who surmised navigational glitches that had occurred were likely caused by the new gizmos people were wanting to carry on board aircraft. For years, aircraft manufacturers like Boeing tried to replicate the scenarios to empirically define answers to the anxiety brought forth by technology wielding passengers who were less than diligent in traveling to airline accord. Without any replaceable and authenticated evidence, airlines decided to agree on the possibility that technology may interfere with aircraft equipment but no one could say for sure.

Who hasn't forgotten to turn off their phone, their tablet or PC? I know I stopped worrying after the first few times forgetting to turn of my devices, thinking my errant attitude could cause a malfunction that would bring me to earth with a crash. Surveys and research done with hundreds of flyers in the US, over the last year, showed over 40% never bothered to turn off their phones during take off and landings, with a Bolshie 2% doing an Alec Baldwin and using their devices whenever they liked.

So why haven't aircraft dropped out of the skies? Aircraft are designed with fail safe systems that flying through a hurricane may cause bumps, yet turning on a phone with the runway in sight is considered more dangerous. Has logic left us, the numbers from the surveys and likely your own experiences show decisions made over two decades ago don't have much bearing on today. The chances that every device on every aircraft, flying right now, being turned off is imponderable and yet the fear remains.

The cause and effect of something going wrong and something else happening at the same time, like a navigational glitch while some piece of technology is turned on is a great story and anecdotally believable, giving the airlines plausible deniability and playing on our fear of the unknown. Airlines are all working on retaining and acquiring as many passengers as possible, so why isn't one of them doing a full scientific study of technology and its affect on aircraft navigational equipment. You have to believe, the first airline that has a flight attendant announcing all and any technology devices can be left on and operated throughout the flight time, take off and landing included, will garner praise along with increased passenger uptake.

The fact no aircraft fall out of the sky because flight attendants are diligent in their duty to make sure no one is seen to be using their technology, affirms the belief in the status quo and links our fear to uncorroborated evidence from decades past. Too many plane crash movies will keep that phone in our pockets but it may not be turned off.