Even if the cell data was being withheld, at least one friend or relative of those on board would have reported the contact by now. Which makes me think that either the plane flew south and ditched in the sea or if it did fly north, the crew and passengers were either dead or unconscious due to 5+ hours in the death zone.
Agree. This. Plus, as has been explained a million times already, the ringback tone is NOT generated by the phone handset, but by the network, and there are a million reasons why you may hear ringing and yet the handset might never ring (or be turned off/ broken).
I think we need to treat the mobile phone stuff as yet another random conspiracy theory until such time as HARD FACTS show otherwise.....