have a satellite phone that operates independent of the airplane's electrical system. may or may not have worked in the cockpit. but more likely scenario is that somebody just didn't want to talk. and if they don't want to talk to you, you can be screaming and yelling, but if you shut everything off, there's no transponder codes for the secondary radar to pick up. nobody answering the phone, so to speak, or answering the radio. that creates a problem. more likely, electrical problem. if it's not terrorism, it's almost got to be massive and total electrical failure, which would bring the guys to doing what we call dead reckoning navigation, which is what we used prior to electronic aids. basically looking at a map and looking at the ground, or out over the ocean, you take a heading up that you know will put you close to land. you fly it based on a clock and your known speed and hopefully you'll find land and be able to find an airport, which may be the simple explanation for the turnback. >> if you're looking at the