Most people I worked with had cell phones in 2001, but I didn't. It was already difficult to find a pay phone which still worked. Then again I worked for a telecommunications company in an area near "telecom corridor" (where the movie "Office Space" was filmed).
And the calls that were released, there's like no background noise. I would expect to hear crying and screaming.
2001 Cell phones do not work at altitude
Are you sure? 2001 cell phones (and supportive telecom systems) were very simple and would not know if a call was placed from 33,000 feet up, or 33,000 feet horizontally across the earth. If the radio works, then you are golden.
Have you ever tried calling from a phone while landing? Even at like 500 feet? It doesn't work.
On that persons Instagram page thereās a shitload of videos explaining why speed and distance make the calls impossible as well as a couple that actually did altitude experiments. The max they were able to achieve and still get a signal was eight thousand feet.
In 2001? At the time, no one seemed to question that brief calls were possible, and in fact they were sometimes made.
OK Bob. Just believe the narrative.
A mile is 5280 feet. When I am hiking at over 3500 feet from the valley floor (and multiple/many miles away from the closest cell tower) I am sometimes still able to use my cell phone to communicate with my wife.
I was always under the impression they were made from the phones on the back of the seats but guess this shows otherwise.