Reported Cell Phone Calls from the 9/11 Planes
Further Reflections Evoked by a Critique

by Prof. David Ray Griffin - Global Research, September 7, 2008

Earlier this year, Andrew Kornkven posted a comment and a blog critical of my discussion, in Chapter 17 of my book 9/11 Contradictions, of reported cell phone calls from the 9/11 airliners. In this reply, I respond to both of these criticisms, referring to former as his "Comment," to the latter as his "Blog." (All quotations are from the Blog unless otherwise indicated.) Although Kornkven's criticisms are based on confusions and other errors, my response to them has led me to report some information about this issue that I had not previously published, although much of it is in my most recent book, The New Pearl Harbor Revisited. This distinction means that, although many of my comments, especially in the first parts of this essay, consist of responses to confused criticisms (which the reader will probably want to move through quickly), this essay does, especially in its later parts, contain several points of great importance.

More to give the lie to the claims of cell phone calls from the hijacked airliners on 9/11 (corroborating DRG's summary in "9/11 Contradictions"):

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/18/business/cell.php

E.g., "But last month, Emirates became the first airline to enable in-flight mobile voice services, on an Airbus A340 from Dubai to Casablanca."

Had anyone ever even HEARD of anyone making a successful cell phone call from an airplane flying at more than 10,000 feet before 9/11 2001?

by David Ray Griffin
Global Research, April 1, 2008

Late in the day on 9/11, CNN put out a story that began: “Barbara Olson, a conservative commentator and attorney, alerted her husband, Solicitor General Ted Olson, that the plane she was on was being hijacked Tuesday morning, Ted Olson told CNN.” According to this story, Olson reported that his wife had “called him twice on a cell phone from American Airlines Flight 77,” saying that “all passengers and flight personnel, including the pilots, were herded to the back of the plane by armed hijackers. The only weapons she mentioned were knives and cardboard cutters.”2

David Ray Griffin wrote the following response to a criticism of his writings and arguments about cell phones.

Was Deena Burnett Really Not Duped? A Reply to Andrew Kornkven’s Suggestion about Alleged Cell Phone Calls

David Ray Griffin

"It is the truth movement that has been duped, not Deena Burnett.” So claims Andrew Kornkven in the headline of an essay arguing against my view, which I articulated in Debunking 9/11 Debunking (henceforth D9D), that the cell phone calls from the airliners were faked. He has then suggested an alternative scenario, which he regards as more plausible.[1] Kornkven and I agree that ascertaining the validity of these purported calls is of utmost importance, because they form one of the pillars of the official story about 9/11. But there are several problems with his argument, some of which appear to result from his having relied upon a brief announcement about the revised version of D9D, rather than having consulted the book itself.

Logical Error

Cell use Possible now on Airplanes!

I just found this story and thought it intersting to post here. So much for all that supposed cell use on the planes reporting the hijackings on 9/11, Apparently We Now Have the Technology to use Cell Phones on Planes.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mobile phones may soon be used on planes
18:35 22 June 2007
NewScientist.com news service
New Scientist and AFP
http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn12123-mobile-phones-may-soon-be-used-on-planes.html

One of the last telephone-free environments on the planet, the airplane, is about to be connected, allowing travellers to make mobile phone calls at high altitude.

Requests to switch off cellphones and fasten seatbelts are a familiar part of the take-off routine for airline passengers, but a European company has found a way to make dialling safe and link up people from above the clouds.

International airline to allow cell phone chatter on planes
By Grace Wong
Special to CNN
NEW YORK (CNN) -- From cell phone use to high-speed Internet access, the connected life is spreading to the skies.

In January, Emirates airline plans to launch mobile phone usage in its planes, making it the first airline to allow passengers to make cell phone calls on its flights.

And Australian carrier Qantas plans to start evaluating technology that lets fliers use their cell phones and PDAs during flight early next year.

Fliers have long been able to keep in touch with those on the ground by using phones built into the backs of airplane seats. But the costs of those seatback phones can be upwards of $10 a minute, plus a connection fee.

In contrast, the cost of calls made in-flight on Emirates will be in line with international roaming rates, the airline said. Those rates vary by mobile carrier and by location but can be as low as $1 to $2 a minute.

But while some upscale, long-haul airlines are installing equipment onboard that will allow for cell phone use, it may be a while before the service makes its way to the U.S.

I recently watched the CBC News Sunday broadcast, "9/11: Truth, Lies and Conspiracy" (I think it was part of a piece they called "9/11 Fallout") and was surprised to hear the host go on record to say he had, himself, tried to use his cell phone over Washington DC--and it didn't work! Finally, a reporter who actually tried it.

That got me thinking. It's even less likely that a cell phone tower in the middle-of-nowhere Pennsylvania was able to connect no fewer than 14 passengers to their callees. However, what if the plane was fitted with a cell "tower"? According to cooperativeresearch.org, President Bush used a regular cell phone on the day of 9/11 while in flight because his secure line wasn't working. Is Airforce One equipped with such a relay tower? Also, we know from recent work by Qualcomm and American Airlines that the technology was tested in 2004 and proved to work (search money.cnn.com).

Although the cell phone calls are weird (e.g. "Mom? This is Mark Bingham."), were they made possible by someone with a foreknowledge of the plans? Could the plane have been equipped with a cell relay technology later proved possible in 2004?