What Could Happen If Your Phone Falls Between Plane Seats

Even as travelers are celebrating some welcome changes to security restrictions in airports across the world, there are still quite a few rules that need to be  followed once they are seated. And yes, a couple of those rules are focused on the use of mobile devices. One of the most common instructions is to place your device in airplane mode for the duration of the flight, a request made to limit potential interference from cellular and Bluetooth signals with an aircraft's navigational and communications systems.

The other big request concerns what passengers should do in the event that their phone gets stuck in their seat. More precisely, it's about what passengers should not do in that event, which is to attempt to retrieve the device themselves. Instead, it is recommended that you alert a flight attendant to the issue and allow them to retrieve the phone for you. The primary reason for that is over the potential for the phone to be damaged while being retrieved, which could result in a fire should the notoriously delicate lithium-ion batteries inside also be damaged.

Lithium-ion batteries are known to be legitimate fire hazards in such circumstances, which is one of a handful of problems and disadvantages facing these power sources. As such, worries over batteries catching fire is so great that airlines take extra precautions to prevent such calamities.

So volatile are lithium-ion batteries that TSA includes items powered by them among those that aren't allowed to be packed away in checked baggage, for fear of a fire breaking out in the plane's luggage hold. Specific to cell phones, airlines encourage passengers to not even change the position of their seat when their phone becomes trapped, as even the slightest movement may cause enough damage to produce sparks or even a fire.

Flight attendants are given specific training in the best ways to go about finding the phones lost between seats without causing damage to them. Additionally, allowing a flight attendant to retrieve your device may also prevent personal injury to your fingers and hands. According to Nicolas Bessuejouls, a flight attendant with almost two decades of service under his belt, the retrieval process tends to be easy enough, as the devices are often just stuck in the cracks between seats or lodged between the back rest and seat cushion. 

However, the retrieval process can be trickier in business and First Class, as the larger seats present more vacant fissures and are equipped with more electronic features. If for some reason they cannot easily find the phone during the flight the passenger may have to wait until landing to get their device back. That process may require the removal of seat cushions, and even the dismantling of the seat itself in extreme cases.