Originally Posted by
itsMoe
Just FYI, you can have your device function as a hotspot that is connected via WLAN rather than via 4G. I've done this in the past to get around device restrictions in hotel rooms that made you pay per connected device.
But as I said upthread, while this is certainly true in theory, it is unlikely that the passengers in question were using this trick while seated on the plane awaiting takeoff. It is vastly more likely they were using their cellular connection as a hotspot for a laptop and neglected to activate airplane mode when required.
Of course none of us was there in this case.