I have a question......
Why hasn’t anyone mentioned why didn’t any of the passengers use their cell phones?
May not have known they were headed somewhere other than where they were supposed to be headed so there was no panic no.1 and no.2 the captain may have told them not to.
With the prospect of ending up in a Chinese prison for using a phone on a plane, would you use your phone?
It may have been as simple as the captain telling the passengers they were making a slight correction to go around a storm and do not use your phones or any electric device or risk going to a Chinese prison.