On the plane crashing...
Did it crash? If so, why NO signals (that we know if) from the emergency transponders? Those things will even work under deep water.
Rodguy911. Please reread the posting again. Take your time. Imagine 60+ satellites in orbit around the earth all evenly spaced. Each satellite can receive a signal from a 250 mile circle on the surface of the earth. As the satellite moves in orbit, the circle on the surface moves with it. Now imagine 60 other circles just like this also moving over the surface of the earth. As the 777 flys out over the Indian Ocean it is flying through these moving circles. The folks at Iridium Corp. know where each satellite is and has been. As the 777 flys out over the Indian Ocean it is flying through these moving Iridium circles. Each time the 777 pings, the Iridium folks can see the ping and know which satellite received the ping. Since they know which satellite recieved the ping and the time it received the ping they know where on the surface of the earth the circle is located. With one ping it is within the 250 mile circle. With multiple pings they can reconstruct a very accurate ground track. Hope that helps.