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Missing Malaysia Airlines plane: Family of Chinese passenger says mobile phone working
The Sunday Times ^ | March 9, 2014

Posted on 03/09/2014 9:17:16 AM PDT by Raebie

A Chinese family successfully rang the mobile phone of a passenger on board Malaysia Airlines plane MH370 which is still missing after it lost contact with the ground on Saturday.

A video clip of a man dialing the number of his elder brother was shown on Beijing Television's news bulletin. The call got connected, but no one picked up.

The man, who did not give his name, spoke to reporters at a Malaysia Airlines briefing in Beijing. He claimed that he made a total of three calls, but no one answered.

Desperate family members have asked Malaysia Airlines to use satellite technology to pick up the mobile phone signals of passengers before their phones run out of batteries.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: iran; malaysia; mh370; waronterror
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To: Raebie

Cell phone numbers answer all the time with out a phone being on... its called voice mail...what to you think happen when you call a cell and its off..a busy signal? nothing?


61 posted on 03/09/2014 11:00:08 AM PDT by tophat9000 (Are we headed to a Cracker Slacker War?)
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To: spudville
Also a commercial aircraft puts out IFF signals.

No, it 'squawks' on a transponder. It identifies the flight with the 4-digit code.

If high jackers don’t know about this it may still be picked up by satellite

Those doubts about the transponder were answered after 9/11. There is a hijack, emergency code, lost comm code, 7500/7700/7600. The codes are not unknown or secret.

If high jackers don’t know about this it may still be picked up by satellite.

If the transponder is under water or has no power, there is no signal.

62 posted on 03/09/2014 11:02:32 AM PDT by xone
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To: Raebie

Just because a caller dialing a number hears it “ringing” on his handset, does not mean that phone he is calling is actually ringing.


63 posted on 03/09/2014 11:02:33 AM PDT by Minutemen ("It's a Religion of Peace")
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To: Viennacon

Or there’s an air pocket somewhere.


64 posted on 03/09/2014 11:12:44 AM PDT by Mercat
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To: tophat9000

I am aware of what happens when a phone is off. It goes DIRECTLY to voicemail, it doesn’t ring 4 times and then go.

After years of raising my 21 & 24 year old daughters, I am well acquainted with what happens when you call a dead or turned off phone...or when they hit the ignore button (one or may two rings and then voicemail).


65 posted on 03/09/2014 11:21:11 AM PDT by Raebie
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To: Tired of Taxes

“...my first thought is that maybe the phone was not on the plane”

Hubby and I watched some TV show (I forget which one) where a murderer covered his air travel tracks by shipping his cell phone via Fed Ex or something like that. They were following the phone thinking it was with the guy, but they finally realized they were quite wrong.


66 posted on 03/09/2014 11:28:04 AM PDT by jocon307
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To: Tired of Taxes

it would be a bit awkward to explain you arriving home after the plane you were supposed to be on for the long weekend business trip, exploded


67 posted on 03/09/2014 12:48:41 PM PDT by sten (fighting tyranny never goes out of style)
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To: Minutemen

“Just because a caller dialing a number hears it “ringing” on his handset, does not mean that phone he is calling is actually ringing.”

Many times it means exactly that. That it is ringing. It seems that in most networks if the receiving phone can not be found then it goes right to voice mail where a message can be stored by the carrier. In fact on some networks you can even tell when the person you are calling is on the phone because there is sound at the end of the ring sound on the callers phone.

In this case I am sure that the caller is aware of exactly what happens when he calls this family member. Past history has proven to him that his relatives phone will go right to voice mail if not accessible. Instead however it is acting like it is accessible.

There is always the possibility that this plane was highjacked and flown somewhere and landed safely.


68 posted on 03/09/2014 12:51:26 PM PDT by Revel
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To: FAA

I know someone who accidently dropped their smartphone into a flooded crawl space (about 4 feet of water). Weeks later they went down into it and found the phone. Fired right up. Still worked.


69 posted on 03/09/2014 1:57:42 PM PDT by virgil
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To: hulagirl

Yeah, I would want to know why a B777 suddenly falls off radar. Lots of people fly in those things.


70 posted on 03/09/2014 2:01:56 PM PDT by virgil
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To: Spartan302

I thought the same thing. Maybe it landed in some remote jungle area. Surely debris would have surfaced in the flyover area by now. Strangest story ever.


71 posted on 03/09/2014 2:07:46 PM PDT by jersey117
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To: Viennacon
Wouldn’t they have found floating luggage by now?

Not if he was flying Delta.

72 posted on 03/09/2014 2:12:48 PM PDT by Scoutmaster (I'd rather be at Philmont)
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To: Raebie

Thanks for posting. Keywords added to facilitate info searches.


73 posted on 03/09/2014 2:28:43 PM PDT by cyn (Benghazi.)
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To: libh8er

All of a sudden the end of Raise the Titanic appeared in my head...


74 posted on 03/09/2014 3:30:27 PM PDT by reaganaut (Ex-Mormon, now Christian. I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.)
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To: BfloGuy; stocksthatgoup

That’s not how it works for me. If a mobile is off, or out of range, I get a message saying: “The number you have called is not available ...”


75 posted on 03/09/2014 8:05:46 PM PDT by BlackVeil ('The past is never dead. It's not even past.' William Faulkner)
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To: sten

Hmmm... Yeah, that would be awkward.


76 posted on 03/09/2014 8:38:18 PM PDT by Tired of Taxes
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To: jocon307

It’s a very scary thought that a criminal could be so clever.


77 posted on 03/09/2014 8:41:15 PM PDT by Tired of Taxes
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To: BlackVeil

If my mobile is off, or out of range, the caller will sometimes HEAR SEVERAL RINGS! (not always) and then it will transfer to the recording message. I think whether or not the rings are heard may have to do with which network the phone was last live in.


78 posted on 03/09/2014 8:51:49 PM PDT by steve86 (Some things aren't really true but you wouldn't be half surprised if they were.)
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To: BlackVeil
That’s not how it works for me. If a mobile is off, or out of range, I get a message saying: “The number you have called is not available ...”

Yes. I hear that one and I've also heard, "this number is currently not taking calls." If you call me, though, when I'm at the bottom of the ocean, you'll just get my voicemail.

79 posted on 03/10/2014 4:25:10 PM PDT by BfloGuy ( Even the opponents of Socialism are dominated by socialist ideas.)
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