Yes, I am also told to turn off my mobile phone at the airport before flying out but I did test on it just before the plane landed to see if it works and it worked. I text messaged to a friend and he text messaged back to me. The stewardess saw me and told me to turn it off.
Yeah of course it'll work just before the plane is about to land, the plane dropped from 23,000 to 6,000 compares when you're up in the sky, You'll have no connection, you'll be going through one jumpy ride which through the clouds.