But while your phone is off, there will be no pings. Unless you have some NSA spyware on your phone, then it would be possible to continue connectivity. Or if you have a “sleep” mode on your phone which resumes network connectivity. When powered off, my phone is completely off with no network connectivity. Same would go for airplane mode; which would cut off all of your network connectivity as well.
Having said that, Apple has an ingenious idea that would continue to track your phone after being shut down. Basically how it works is, if someone steals your phone and tries to shut it down, they will be prompted to enter your security code. If the security code is entered incorrectly, the phone will go into a "zombie" mode whereby it appears to be powered down, but it's still transmitting its location to the "Find my iPhone" app to help you recover your stolen phone.
Pretty neat idea!
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-s...es-even-when-they-re-turned-off-10066378.html