Summary
I can't wait for Qualcomm and American Airlines to launch the world's first airplane cell phone service... fully
three years after the 9/11 attacks, when passengers were said to have used cell phones to call news stations while their own planes were being hijacked.
So what technology were these passengers using then?
Original source:
http://www.nypress.com/17/30/news%26columns/AlanCabal.cfm
Details
-
MIRACLES AND WONDERS Last week, USA Today reported a joint effort between Qualcomm and American Airlines' to allow passengers to make cellphone calls from aircraft in flight.
- According to the story, the satellite-based system employs a "Pico cell" to act as a small cellular tower.
- Connection is impossible at altitudes over 8000 feet or speeds in excess of 230 mph.
- Yet despite this, passengers Todd Beamer, Mark Bingham, Jeremy Glick and Edward Felt all managed to place calls from Flight 93 on the morning of September 11.
- Peter Hanson, en route to Disneyland with his wife and daughter, phoned his dad from Flight 175.
- Madeline Amy Sweeney, a flight attendant, made a very dramatic call from Flight 11 as it sped to the North Tower.
- Barbara Olson made two calls, collect, to her husband at his government office from Flight 77 as it made its way to the Pentagon.
- Olson was an easy candidate for Airfone (one doesn't call collect from a cell), but as the stories developed, Olson---and Felt---were said to have called from inside locked lavatories.
- Satam Al-Suqami's indestructible passport, for one, is currently under the microscope in the Reverse Engineering Department at Area 51.
- Likewise, professional bowlers could benefit from inquiries into whatever physical force brought about the collapse of WTC 7.
- And as a frequent flyer who finds long-term parking difficult and expensive, I'd like to know by what mechanism Mohammed Atta got to Portland, ME, where he was videotaped boarding a flight to Logan Airport in Boston.
- Who would've thought there'd be a silver lining even in the debris cloud made that Tuesday morning?
About the author: Mike Adams is a natural health author and award-winning journalist with a passion for teaching people how to improve their health He is a prolific writer and has published thousands of articles, interviews, reports and consumer guides, and he has published numerous courses on preparedness and survival, including financial preparedness, emergency food supplies, urban survival and tactical self-defense. Adams is an honest, independent journalist and accepts no money or commissions on the third-party products he writes about or the companies he promotes. In 2010, Adams co-founded NaturalNews.com, a natural health video sharing site that has now grown in popularity. He's also a veteran of the software technology industry, having founded a personalized mass email software product used to deliver email newsletters to subscribers. Adams volunteers his time to serve as the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, and pursues hobbies such as martial arts, Capoeira, nature macrophotography and organic gardening. He's also author a large number of health books offered by Truth Publishing and is the creator of numerous reference website including NaturalPedia.com and the free downloadable Honest Food Guide. His websites also include the free reference sites HerbReference.com and HealingFoodReference.com. Adams believes in free speech, free access to nutritional supplements and the innate healing ability of the human body. Known as the 'Health Ranger,' Adams' personal health statistics and mission statements are located at www.HealthRanger.org
Have comments on this article? Post them here:
people have commented on this article.
Thursday, August 19, 2004
Email this article to a friend
Share
this article on: 
