Travel Question: How safe is it to use a mobile phone on a flight?

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Many passengers ignore the rules about switching off phones (Getty/iStock)

Q My 20-year-old daughter is a very nervous flyer. She recently bit the bullet and flew on her own from Bristol to Dublin. She was horrified that a fellow passenger was using his smartphone to access the internet during the flight. Is this safe? A search suggests conflicting rules on different airlines and jurisdictions.

Name withheld

A Most airlines demand that phones are switched off, or to “flight safe” mode, from the moment the doors are closed on departure to the time the plane turns off the runway on arrival.