Maybe his brother forgot the mobile phone at home or somewhere else.
I wish there were another explanation, but my first thought is that maybe the phone was not on the plane. :-(
On second thought, everyone else here is right. Come to think of it, my cell phone broke, and people tell me they still are able to text message it.
“...my first thought is that maybe the phone was not on the plane”
Hubby and I watched some TV show (I forget which one) where a murderer covered his air travel tracks by shipping his cell phone via Fed Ex or something like that. They were following the phone thinking it was with the guy, but they finally realized they were quite wrong.
it would be a bit awkward to explain you arriving home after the plane you were supposed to be on for the long weekend business trip, exploded