Is it true that if you don’t turn on airplane mode on your device, the plane will crash? Is it true that you can open the cabin door mid-flight? Is it also true that planes drop human waste mid-flight? In this story, we will debunk every myth that every person feared while flying. Let’s start with the first one. 

Myth 1: ‘If you don’t turn Airplane Mode on your device, the plane would experience unsolvable difficulties and then crash’ 

Well, no. Not turning on Airplane mode on your device won’t make the plane crash, but it would make pilots face some difficulties. Let me explain.

Airplane mode is a mode on your device that turns off WI-FI and Bluetooth. Most people wondered why they told them to turn their devices to airplane mode, and there’s a reason for it: to stop the phone’s signal from interfering with the plane’s radio and navigation system. As the phone tries to send stronger signals to connect to nearby cell towers, in which it can’t since the phone is high up at around 35,000 to 40,000ft, those stronger signals also affect the radio system of the plane, making the communication between the pilot and the ATC (Air Traffic Control) impossible, and all the pilots could hear from their headphones is just static like ‘beep-bep-bep-bep-beeeeeeeeeeeep’. It also affects the navigation system, making the system give false readings to pilots like the speed and altitude, which happens very rarely, but the FAA still adopts this even if the hazard is small. And to reassure people who fear flying because of some random phone with the airplane mode off, there have been no reported cases of a phone without airplane mode on making a plane crash. 

So, to summarize all this, not turning on Airplane Mode would crash the plane; it only creates a disturbance with the radio between the ATC (Air Traffic Control) and the pilots. 

Myth 2:  “Planes drop human waste mid-air”

No, Planes do not drop Human waste mid-air. Let me explain again. 

Every plane has a tank for storing human waste, which is often at the back of the plane, or sometimes at the front. The human waste is stored in the tank and mixed with a chemical disinfectant, turning it into ‘blue ice’. After the plane lands at its destination, a truck comes and then connects a big tube into the tanks access hole and then sucks out the waste into the truck’s tank. The truck then takes and dumps the waste into a specialized dumpster, specifically for human waste. However, there have been cases around the 1970s and 2000s, where they reported ‘blue ice’ falling from planes and landing in people’s homes, but it was mostly due to damage to the aircraft and leakage through the damage, which rarely happens now. 

To summarize, Planes don’t drop human waste mid-flight; They have specialized tanks for it. 

Myth 3:  “You can open the cabin door mid-flight.”

No, you can’t open a cabin door mid-flight. The reason behind this also involves a bit of physics. Let me explain, again. 

When the plane flies high in the sky, the air pressure at high altitudes is very low. So, the pilots pressurize the cabin. But in this way, the cabin door won’t be able to be opened due to differences in air pressure between the outside and the inside. In this way, no one can open the cabin door mid-flight.

So there you have it, all three major aviation myths, DEBUNKED. Now, people everywhere can rest assured, the truth about air travel. It no longer matters if you’re flying for leisure or business, you can also lay to rest the old incessant rumors. You can now sit back, relax, and enjoy your experience without fear.