Is it possible the FA thought it was a cellular call?

I always assumed FAs (and most folks) understood that land based cellular service did not work beyond 2-3 miles from a tower.

During the Malaysian 370 discussions, so many Americans were asking about cell phone access over the Indian ocean, underwater, etc that I started to wonder if many folks think cell phones are magical devices that can access their networks from anywhere. This may be a case of lack of education on the subject.