I saw the movie with Tom Hanks.  I could believe what he went though on the island.  I had a aserious problem with how he got there.  Maybe KA3b can chime in on this.  I was under the impression that a life raft of the kind that are used on wide body aircraft would have a locator beacon that would start automatically once it hit the water.  Not to mention the plane itself would have black boxes that would send out a location signal.  Where are the transponders? I just dont believe that you can lose a heavy that easily.  I saw the facility that FEDEX has at its HQ.  They have their own meteorologists, they track every one of their planes over the globe and know its exact location. If it was 1920 I can see it happening very easily but no so in this ERA of GPS and satillites.  

The other thing that I couldnt believe was that he fell of a chick like Helen Hunt.  Met her in person, she is cold skank!  Mean as they come, rude too.

 First rule of filmmaking: Don't let reality/truth/facts/physics get in the way of telling a story.

It's been a while since I've seen the movie, but I do remember when the plane was sinking, and Hanks was trying to get out with the liferaft, something hanging from the liferaft by a strap (a bag, I think) snagged on something and was torn off.  I assume this bag contained survival gear, and perhaps there was an EPIRB in there too.

Do EPIRBs and the locator beacons of "black boxes" have strong enough transmitters to be heard through a mile or so of water?  Maybe that is how it is explained... the stuff sank to the bottom, and therefore the signal couldn't be heard by the satellites or search planes.

--Mike

Thats a good point.  I think youre correct.  There was a bag on a rope that was torn off.  But at the same time how could a DC10 be lost that far off course.  I have seen the FEDEX station and they know where every plane is at all times.  Its kind of crazy, they have this huge board with planes and their progress.  Weather guys are working there at all times.  Its kind of impressive actually.  I bet they have more capability then a lot of countries.

Mary Ann!

Oops, wrong thread.

I bet he would have given his right testicle for Mary Ann or even Mrs. Howell!  

When the russkies shot the KAL flight years ago it was pretty far off course and no one knew. That was inertial guidance not GPS though.

Stupid movie, I mean OPEN THE BOXES ALREADY, there might be beef jerkey or something else good in there.

It would have been too funny if there were tools or a 2 way radio in the box!