ehr@uncecs.edu (Ernest H. Robl) (09/25/89)
Since no one else has mentioned it in this forum: One of the more
unusual uses of a cellular phone took place last week during the USAir
crash into the water in New York. A CBS News producer -- apparently
part of a crew headed south for hurricane coverage -- was a passenger
aboard the aircraft and had a cellular phone with him. After the
plane went off the runway, and while he was still waiting to be
rescued, the producer placed a call to CBS news in downtown New York.
On the second cut-in on the crash, Dan Rather provided a brief
introduction as to what was known at that time. With a distant live
video of the crash scene provided by a remote unit as the visual,
Rather then proceeded to do a live interview with the producer aboard
the crashed plane, in which the passenger described what had happened
and what the current situation was.
The quality of of the sound was marginal, but still understandable.
One could hear lots of on-site background noise, including people
shouting to each other.
--Ernest