Not knowing must be gut-wrenching

I'm a bit of a Luddite so you'll have to excuse me if this is a dumb question. Can't folks use their cell phones and such on planes? It just seems the complete silence is so odd. (And yes, I'm probably one of the last people on the planet who doesn't have a cellphone.)

cell towers transmit signals towards the ground, not up.

Not to mention they were flying over water a good chunk of the time where there is no cell service.

to at least one of the passenger's cell phones. It rings, but there's no answer. Wouldn't those phone carriers know where the phones are???

Hope the military didn't shoot it down for some reason.

I can't think I'm the only one that is guilty of that. So - I was just wondering if the searchers looking for this plane have thought about checking cell phone signals that may have been generated from this missing plane from somebody that inadvertently left their cell phone on. Just a thought.

And at 500 mph, the signal would not stay within a cell very long.

I don't know how technically feasible cell tracking under those conditions would be. It is a question somebody who works within the industry might want to answer. It just does not sound credible to me. But I am no expert.