Were cell phone calls made from the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center?

Answer 1

Yes they did. This is how the people on the ground found out that the planes had been hijacked. Previously of course, airline hijackers hadn't used the planes for suicide missions, and they weren't expecting that. But once the 2 planes had been crashed into the WTC, and while passengers on flight 93 were still in the air calling their friends, they found out what happened to the other highjacked planes. This is why those passengers fought back. They realized it was their only chance to survive, or at least minimize the number of deaths.

Answer 2

Yes - it was mentioned on the news that the people involved in the crashes called their loved ones from their cell phones to say goodbye.

Answer 3

Yes, we have been told that cell phone calls were made from some of the people on the planes that hit the World Trade Center. However, there is now controversary regarding these calls and if they could in fact have been placed at all. This is what people are saying now. Please don't boo me I am just letting you know what is out there. Whether or not they called from the cell phone or the plane phone doesnt matter to me. I am just thankful that the families got to say goodbye to their loved ones.
911 Cell Phone Calls From
Planes? Not Likely
By Ted Twietmeyer
[e-mail]
8-23-4

Or, Why phone calls cannot be made from planes without PicoCell technology

No one, with a knowledge of antenna technology could subscribe to phone calls from planes, and here are some basic reasons why. This is somewhat technical, but this needs to be shown why this is virtually impossible. I'll attempt to simplify it.

1. ANTENNAS - All antennas are characterized by what is known as a "lobe pattern." The lobe pattern or area the antenna is designed to serve is a result of it's physical shape and other factors. The best omni-directional antenna is that of the single element antenna, or single dipole antenna such as is used on all cell phones. This has a circular lobe pattern. Note that this is not the same antenna used on cell towers.

Directional antennas are widely used in TV and radio to maximize a service area. A receive and transmit radio frequency (RF) pattern of any directional antenna is a roughly eliptical shape, or egg shape. An example are AM radio towers, which may use other towers near them. These other towers can be grounded to act as reflectors and direct service to a nearby city. The FCC determines when and where antenna directional technology can be used, and by which stations. Reflecting antennas can also be used to prevent interference with other stations.

Cell tower antennas use a specially designed directional antenna which incorporates a reflector. This reflector is carefully designed to create a directed radiation pattern directed over a large 2 dimensional area. These reflectors work very much like the reflector you see in a floodlight. Directional antenna characteristics are what divides a geographic region into cells. Any given antenna type has the same receive and transmit lobe pattern.

Today you can see that most all visible cell towers have a triangular pattern of antennas. This clearly shows that the 360 degree area around a cell tower is divided up into three groups of antennas, with each group facing one of three directions. Each antenna group lobe pattern slightly overlaps the other. The FCC determines the effective radiated power in watts of any transmitter, including cell tower antennas. Therefore, every watt must be used efficiently for best signal quality (such as it is.) Cell tower antenna design dictates that only a VERY small amount of RF is radiated vertically up into the air, as this is considered lost RF energy.

2. AIRPLANES - An airplane is made of aluminum alloy. It is NOT transparent RF frequencies, but instead acts as a shield. Sections of the plane made of carbon composite will greatly attenutate or even stop all cell phone signals, as this is also conductive material. Only when a cell phone has "line of sight" with a cell tower, can a talk connection take place. And such a talk connection can only take place THROUGH A WINDOW ON THE PLANE, because the body of a plane cannot pass the signal from a cell phone.

3. Cell tower antennas use power levels of 100 watts or more and group of antennas can have power levels of 800 watts. However, a pocket cell phone only transmits an RF signal of less than 1 watt, with many phones transmitting just .4 watts. No phone call can be made until the cell tower receives this tiny signal and establishes a channel with the phone by assigning the phone a frequency to talk on. This basic procedure takes place on both digital and analog cell phones. Only the older, bigger bag phones can output up to 4 watts of power, which almost no one uses anymore.

In conclusion we have:

A. A plane moving at more than 500 MPH

B. Plane windows acting as small aperatures for a cell phone RF signal. This forces the cell phone antenna to become highly directional, but without any increase in gain. There is no gain because plane is not a reflector or resonant cavity tuned to cell frequencies.

C. The cell phone is rapidly moving past cell towers that may or may not be in line with the side of the plane. If a tower happens to be in line with the side of the plane when it turns, such a connection will not last but few seconds, if at all.

D. The pocket cell phone signal of less than 1 watt must be received before the call can be placed.

E. Cell antennas have a weak signal lobe above them, making establishing a connection with a phone
unlikely.

So, how could a phone call be made ?

The "911 - In Plane Sight" proves beyond a doubt, that at least one windowless plane was used on the second tower. Imagine the challenge of trying to make a cell phone call, from completely shielded window-less plane ! Network video enlargements clearly show it was armed with a missile which is clearly visible when it was launched. The detailed phone dialogs we've read about from those that "called from the plane" can only be fiction and theatre.

Since we know the flights did depart from airports, these same people could not be allowed to live to tell the story of the fictional flight. If they did make phone calls, it might have been at gunpoint on the ground somewhere. It's likely they all went to the bottom of the ocean with their knowledge.


Ted Twietmeyer is the founder of http://www.data4science.net which explores charted and uncharted regions of science. The website both encourages public participation, and also provides a way for the public to participate in science projects.


Comment
Name Witheld From Seattle
8-24-4

Dear Ted,

I was reading your article on Rense.com on cell phones in flight, yesterday I made 2 flights with a motorola i205 nextexl phone, 1st flight, I had my cell off and then turned it on I suspect a little under 10,000 feet and well over 250 knots in a Boeing 737-400 and could not get ANY signal while still over a major metro area (Seattle).

2nd flight same day I left my phone on during takeoff, and before even reaching 3000, feet and slower than 250 knots( over the San Francisco Bay area)( as there is a speed limit that close to a large airport)like about the time the flaps were coming up the cell had lost its signal.

I know this is unscientific but if a newer phone (3 years) since 911 can't maintain a lock I highly doubt a 2001 phone could maintain a lock.

Hang in there

Answer 4

Can't remember the specifics, but yes definitely.
One guy called his mom.
One woman let several people use her phone to call loved ones. One of these was a young girl who called her mom...