A physical miracle : Cell phone calls from UA 93
Before discussing if in fact cell phone calls from UA 93 would have been possible we first have to determine who used cell phones and how long the
calls lasted. Based on the time of the calls we can then determine the altitude UA 93 was flying at the very moment of the call. Furthermore the way
the call ended is noteworthy (did the call get disconnected?)
Passengers who are known to have made phone calls:
Todd Beamer: airphone,
beginning: 9:45, length: approx.: 13 minutes
Mark Bingham: airphone,
begin: 9:42, 9:44 or 9:45, length: 3 minutes, got disconnected
Comment: Not only do all accounts stress the fact that Bingham used an airphone he even said this explicitly during his call. But what is strange is
that the Commission points out: �All calls placed on airphones were from the rear of the aircraft.� (CR, 456, Foot.: 77) But Bingham was claimed
to have been in first class. Moreover the identification of Mark Rothenberg as the dead passengers is based on the assumption that no passenger from
first class was herded into the rear of the plane. Moreover Bingham was Burnett�s neighbour and Burnett explicitly tells his wife that he is passing
information to his neighbour. So all in all we have a clear contradiction here. Either Bingham is lying in his phone call or all other mentioned
details are wrong. We will assume for this
analysis that Bingham used indeed an airphone.
Sandra Bradshaw: unclear.
While she was calling she was boiling water at the same time. This occupation and the fact that her colleague CeeCee Lyles used a cell phone indicates
to me that a cell phone is more likely to have been used. Though this is not clear we don�t count this.
Marion Britton: extremely likely cell phone.
Moreover according to CeeCee Lyles she was sitting in first calls. Therefore basing on the statement of the Commission we take it that she used indeed
a cell phone. Beginning: �After 9:30�, 9:41. Length: Approx.: 4 minutes (my estimation based on the content of the call). Call got
disconnected.
Tom Burnett: Cell phone.
(For his first two calls we have the word of Deena Burnett, for his third the note of Jere Longman. Moreover we can base this conclusion on the
statement of the Commission as Burnett was sitting in first class and that nowhere it was challenged that Burnett used a cell phone). Call 1:
Beginning: 9:27, Length: 30�. (my estimation based on the transcript) He hangs up. Call 2: Beginning: 9:31, Length: 1� 30�� (my estimation
based on the transcript). He hangs up. Call 3: Beginning: 9:45, Length: 1� 30�� (my estimation based on the transcript). He hangs up. Call 4:
Beginning: 9:54, Length: 1� 30�� (my estimation based on the transcripts). He hangs up.
Joe DeLuca: unclear.
He did several phone calls although for some very strange reasons only a very short account of one call is public.
Edward Felt: Cell phone.
As he called from the restroom it must have been a cell phone. Beginning: 9:58, Length: 1� 12�� (according to reports from the emergency
dispatcher and his supervisor). The call got disconnected.
Andrew Garcia: Most likely a cell phone.
This assumption is based on the fact that the call got disconnected after Garcia said only one word. The name of his wife. The time of the call is
unknown.
Jeremy Glick: Contradicting accounts.
As shown in the article on Glick�s phone call the first reports mentioned that he used a cell phone. Until today the majority of reports write this.
As the call lasted much longer than 20 minutes the use of a cell phone at cruising altitude would of course be a real �miracle�. As reports are
not clear we won�t count it as a cell phone call though it is very possible that indeed he used one.
Lauren Grandcolas: Very likely a cell phone.
She is known to have passed �her phone� to her neighbour Elizabeth Wainio. It makes absolutely no sense that they do share an airphone. There were
more airphones in coach section than passengers aboard! Therefore we take it as a fact what all newspapers wrote or implied: She used a cell phone.
Beginning:
Just before 9:50, Length: 30�� (my estimation based on accounts of the call). She hangs up.
Linda Gronlund: Unclear.
She did several phone calls from 9:53 though as in the case of her boy-friend Joe DeLuca only one call is reported.
CeeCee Lyles: Cell phone.
Her husband Lorne Lyles who managed to take her second call reported that he saw her ID therefore we can assume that she used a cell phone. A flight
attendant using a cell phone is of course extremely strange given the fact that she should very well know that there are airphones aboard and it is
much more likely to come through using this kind of phone. Call 1: Beginning: 9:47, Length: unclear as no indication what she left as a message on her
answering machine. But we can assume from the fact that she managed to leave a message that the length was at least: 15�. Call 2: 9:58, Length: 1�
00�� (my estimation based on accounts of the call). She got disconnected.
Louis J. Nacke II: Most likely cell phone.
It is unclear till today if he in fact did a phone call. If the message his wife received that contained only �noise and a click� was indeed from
him we should assume that he used a cell phone and got disconnected.
Elizabeth Wainio: Very likely cell phone.
See the explanation given for Linda Gronlund who is supposed to have handed her phone to Elizabeth Wainio. Beginning: 9:51, Length: 11� 00��
(time given in reports. She witnessed the beginning of the passenger attack. For further information check out: �Deconstructing the lesser known
phone calls�). She hangs up.
So, what we do have is an absolute minimum of 4 passengers using their cell phones (Britton, Burnett, Felt and Lyles) plus 4 passengers who most
likely used them (Garcia, Grandcolas, Nacke and Wainio). We can add that we have two cases of extremely contradicting accounts: )Bingham and Glick.
Two passengers we have no more details about (DeLuca and Gronlund) and in fact just a single person we definitely know that he used an airphone: Todd
Beamer. Unfortunately the account of his phone call is the one that contains by far the biggest amount of contracitions.
Let�s just wait here for a second: Why do four and even most likely 8 passengers take their cell phones? Why does even a flight attendant go for her
cell phone? Why do passengers that got disconnected NEVER try again to reach their beloved ones by using an airphone?
Fortunately for us we have one passenger using his cell phone: Tom Burnett. His use of his cell phone is beyond dispute. Contrary to several phone
calls at the end of the flight where we might take into consideration that the altitude was far below normal cruising altitude at least the first
three calls of Burnett have been made at cruising altitude. In fact his second call must have happened at a moment when according to the Commission UA
93 reached an altitude of 40,700 feet. His second and his third calls lasted approximately 1� 30�� each. And he never got disconnected. In fact
the connection was that good that Deena Burnett heard him talking to his neighbours.
How is it possible that a cell phone works so well at an altitude of 35,000 to 40,700 feet and at cruising speed of 500 mph?
Furthermore how is the case of Elizabeth Wainio to be explained: She used most likely a cell phone and it worked for 11 minutes without getting
disconnect?
And how on the other hand does Bingham�s airphone get disconnected after only three minutes? (I just assume for the sake of the argument that he is
not lying).
Read more here
www.team8plus.org...
by John Doe II
[edit on 25-3-2008 by IvanZana]
