First in-flight cell calls now possible... so how were calls made from hijacked planes?

[veracity]

http://tvnewslies.org/tvnl/index.php/latest-news-at-a-glance

News story reported today:

Era of in-flight mobile phone use begins in Europe

Heading home from a business trip to Vienna last week, François Germain, a regional manager for BP in France, was using his mobile phone to check in with an assistant back at the head office in Paris.

Nothing unusual there, except that Germain was speaking from an altitude of 39,000 feet, or nearly 12,000 meters, onboard the first commercial aircraft in Europe to offer passengers the opportunity to use their mobile phones in flight.

QUESTION: this article corroborates what we know... that US airlines have shunned this service so far.... and that cell phone calls still cannot be made from US planes....so how were cell phone calls placed from the hijacked planes on 9/11? Just asking...

[victordrazen]

1. They weren't

The cell phone stories are fiction.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

10. yes

[vincent_vega_lives]

18. IF cell phone calls were impossible from airliners

WHY OH WHY would this all-powerful entity go through all the time and trouble to fake all these phone calls to family members, airlines, and dispatchers, and then HOPE no one would figure out the awful trooth, that they couldnt have been made in the first place??


Or perhaps, just mabey the individuals making the calls weren't even sure themselves if the calls would go through, but figured, what do they got to loose by trying?

[wildbilln864]

19. See that's why....

we need to demand a thorough and independant investigation of 911! Then we can put an end to the speculation about it. :hi:

[vincent_vega_lives]

21. And who exactly would you like to see

conduct this 'thorough and independant" investigation? A

[leftofthedial]

2. those were PROPAGANDA cell phone calls

Silly you, they didn't have to actually happen to be part of the OCT mythology. :eyes: Why do you hate America?

[hack89]

3. They were not impossible

they were not reliable.

[mhatrw]

4. Why don't you scientifically test your theory?

Next time you are flying try to place several calls using your cell phone. Let us know the results.

[hack89]

7. I have

50 percent connection rate or which about 45 percent dropped out after a couple of minutes. Ten call total.

[mhatrw]

9. Using what provider from what altitudes?

Were you using an analog or digital phone?

I've never made a single connection above 10,000 feet -- out of more than 50 tries -- using Cingular (now AT&T). Below 10,000, I have had some success making a connection, but I have never been able to actually exchange intelligible hellos with anyone above 5,000 feet.

Here are more comprehensive trials:

http://www.physics911.net/projectachilles (see comments at the end for more evidence)

http://www.vho.org/tr/2003/3/Rudolf271f.html

On the other hand, this guy (who has worked for U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center for 17 years) says that he measured two connected cell phone calls at 35,000 feet (the FAA gave him a $50,000 grant to do this study for his doctoral thesis in 1993). He declines to mention what cell phone technology was used to make these connection or how long the connections he measured held:

http://www.avtoday.com/av/categories/military/952.html

He also mentions something else that I find very interesting:

Avionics: Is there a better solution?

Strauss: A system could be employed in aircraft in which the pilot throws a switch that would disable everybody's phones until they get on the ground. That's the type of system we would like to see. You want to have a pico cell system, fine; have them at 30,000 feet. But when you get to 10,000 feet, nobody will be able to transmit. That's the kind of system that would be more foolproof and worth exploring because it could also be used in movie houses ... and government buildings where there are hearings going on.

Avionics: Does such technology exist?

Strauss: There's technology that jams the phone. You can still transmit, but the phone won't . I'm talking about something that would stop the transmit.

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

17. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[victordrazen]

22. "not imposssible"

that pretty much sums up you guys' version of 911 - well, it's not "IMPOSSIBLE".

[SDuderstadt]

5. Do you know how to read an article?

Maybe you need a reading comprehension class. Where in the article does it say that such calls were not possible before? What it IS saying is that the airline is now offering the passengers the OPPORTUNITY to use their cell phones (hint: BEFORE they were not allowed to use them). Here's a question. Wouldn't the airline reversing course show that such calls ARE possible? And, you CT's wonder why we liberal critical thinkers believe that you are so embarrassing.

[LARED]

6. If it was not so sad it would hilarious - n/t

[SDuderstadt]

8. Your OWN source says the following...

The base station routes phone traffic to and from the plane to a satellite which beams down to mobile networks on the ground. Meanwhile the control unit on the plane ensures that mobiles do not connect to any base stations on the ground - as is technically possible when a plane is flying below 10,000 feet.

That proximity is, for example, what enabled passengers on United Airlines Flight 93, one of four planes hijacked as part of the attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, to contact emergency officials and family members before it went down in Pennsylvania.

I just love it when CT's unwittingly provide evidence that actually undermines their own claim...which is par for the course. I would suggest enrolling in "Reading is Fundamental".

Fucking unbelievable.

[victordrazen]

11. Despite that

I have never been able to get a cell phone to work on an airliner, even recently, and I've tried, I fly a lot.
Also, even if they DID work, not many people have service that works "out of area", even now.

Also, cell phones were not nearly so common then as they are now. How likely that they would have had phones that they could place out of area calls on and worked on a plane? Not likely, cell phones were still relatively novel.
It is true that the article does not state cell phones were impossible back then, but I have read elsewhere that cell phones did not work on airliners and I do not know of anyone who has ever used a cell phone while in the air, except maybe right after takeoff.

[balantz]

12. I think you raised an important investigation point.

You said some phones don't work "out of area".

Perhaps looking into who made the calls and how far their service carried would be revealing.

[AZCat]

13. I don't think that's true.

If you look at useage statistics, there are probably twice as many cell phone users now as there were back then. In 2000 there were 109 million, 2002 had 141 million and in 2006 there were 233 million. However, roamer revenue (from subscriber's calls outside of their service areas) has stayed steady - in fact it has decreased some, probably due to more people using plans that have full coverage.

[victordrazen]

14. Also

He says that some airlines need to install cellular equipment for cell phones to work:

Myth #4: Onboard wireless means your cell phone works on the plane. Not even close. It doesn't
even mean anything on the plane is wireless-enabled. Consult your airline's Web site carefully before making plans to connect wirelessly. For example, KLM just began offering text messaging and e-mail on its Boeing 777s, which operate on routes to New York, San Francisco, Sao Paulo, Cape Town, Dubai, Tokyo, Shanghai, Beijing and Manila. A cursory glance at the service might lead you to believe that you can use your cell phone to send messages. Not true. In
KLM's case, you use your in-seat, in-flight-entertainment system to send the messages at a cost of $2.50 each. Other airlines have installed onboard high-speed wireless Internet services, but haven't added the cellular equipment.

http://www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/resources/technology/communications/flying-with-cell-phones-5-myths.aspx#Emailetiquetteforwirelessdevicestips

The author has seen other passengers using phones over high population or low altitude locations.

[SDuderstadt]

16. Actually, no, he doesn't

He says that some airlines need to install cellular equipment for cell phones to work:

What he's actually saying (if you'd bother to read closely) is that the airlines need to add the cellular equipment for cell phones to work more reliably than without the equipment. If you believe that this article implies or states that cell phone use is not possible at all prior to the installation of this service, you need serious help with reading comprehension or logic skills.

[SidDithers]

20. Oh, that's hilarious...

truthers debunking themselves...:rofl:

Sid