BBC HORIZON

[levissima]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b04grp09/horizon-20142015-4-inside-the-dark-web

Inside the dark web.

Very interesting programme

The bit that interested me most is that Smart phones act as tracking devices. If that's so, how did they loose a Malaysian airliner full of them?

[Allan Mason]

...The bit that interested me most is that Smart phones act as tracking devices. If that's so, how did they loose a Malaysian airliner full of them?

That sort of tracking only works if the phone is in range of base stations.

On the same topic, we bought a TomTom GPS recently and I've been very impressed by how accurate the live traffic information is. There are various inputs to the system, but it seems that an important one is Vodafone UK measuring the movement of 7 million odd mobiles between base stations. This is data used to calculate how quickly traffic is moving and then that's compared with speed limits to determine where there are delays and about how long they are.

Al

[levissima]

I take your point Allan. I'm still wondering why no one used their phone to call when they didn't land on time and also why the phones weren't pinged but I suppose if you are in the middle of nowhere nothing works, bit like Penne

[The Kid]

Cellphones on an aircraft will not work through the traditional networks due to the altitude and distance from the transceiver towers. Some airlines do offer the ability to utilise the satellite uplink (the same that is used by the corded phones you will find on some aircraft) to make calls via one's cellphone.

Smartphones can be tracked by the GPS systems that they carry, these systems work at altitudes up to 60,000ft (roughly twice the average cursing altitudes of commercial flights) and at speeds of up to 1,200mph (again roughly twice that of a commercial flight).

I am bold enough to say (with the evidence at hand) that there is something very wrong with the case of flight MH370 and I would be very surprised if the general public is ever told about what actually happened......