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The tower undoubtedly called another number than mobile 9-1-1 / CHP.
But I think cellular / mobile calls in much of the greater Bay Area (including San Mateo County) still go to the CHP Communication and Dispatch Center for the Golden gate Division, which is: Golden Gate Communications Center, 1551 Benicia Road, Vallejo 94591-7568
Many first aid instructors, etc. tell locals in San Mateo County to call the local San Mateo County Office of Public Safety Communications; with mobile phones they should call directly to 650-363-4911.
At times like the crash it can be quicker as well - CHP Comm has sometimes been saturated with callers during major emergencies, and it as taken as long as twenty minutes to get through historically - you can not have the number of people working to meet the maximum call volume.
Originally Posted by
blarf
I've been following this thread (among others) with interest. Saw this and I figured I'd jump in.
In California mobile 911 calls are, by default, routed to the nearest CHP call center. This means Vallejo for Northern California and Monterey (not 100% sure on the latter) for SoCal. For years this is how all mobile 911 calls were routed.
As of roughly twelve years ago, as part of Assembly Bill 1263, this is no longer the case. The CHP is now the default, but some municipalities have opted to have mobile 911 calls routed to more local call centers. In San Francisco, calls are routed straight to the SF city/county emergency call center. I'm unsure how things are configured in San Mateo, but there's a pretty good chance that the San Mateo 911 center would have received the call.
www.cio.ca.gov/PSCO/Services/911/we911.htm