Cell Phone Signal Could Reveal Location of Missing Jet

The search and rescue efforts continue for a Cambodian aircraft carrying 13 Korean passengers that went missing two days ago. The search became increasingly difficult yesterday afternoon with heavy rainstorms giving way to low visibility.

They are unable to confirm if there are any survivors as of yet. However, it has been released that a Korean passenger boarded the aircraft after receiving an international roaming service call on his or her cellular phone, and authorities are confident that the outgoing signal will help them track the jet’s location.

The Korean Embassy in Cambodia reported that a search team relayed a signal to the Korean passengers’ cellular phone last night and retrieved two outgoing dial tones.

Councilor to the Embassy Oh Nak-yeong expressed high hopes of finding survivors when they learned “the dial tone [of the cellular phone] was still in service, which could mean there is a possibility the plane did not explode.”

According to the overseas press (AP, AFP), Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen came to the rescue operations center in Kampot province in order to assist in the search mission. The Prime Minister said that “Although there is little hope for survivors, the search must continue,” adding, “this is a great calamity for Cambodia.”

The aircraft lost radio contact at 600 meters near a mountaintop which is 800 meters above sea level. The plane was headed towards the southern coastal resort of Sihanoukville from Siem Reap (famous for its Angkor Wat temple). The search parameters have now been expanded to include Kampot Province and Sihanoukville.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen believes, “It is highly probable that the plane was trying to land at Sihanoukville in the heavy rain and crashed into the mountain.” But the aircraft was an old AN-24 type and it is also possible that the accident was due to faulty machinery.

spear@donga.com