Air Alaska
iPhone falls out of plane at 5,000 meters after Boeing mishap – and is found in perfect condition
The iPhone was found in a ditch
© Seanathan Bates/Twitter
Everyone knows the moment of shock when the smartphone slips out of your hand – and far too often it breaks. An iPhone has now survived an almost unbelievable fall. Almost undamaged.
It was every passenger’s horror idea: In the middle of the flight on Saturday, an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max lost a panel on an unused emergency exit – and had to make an emergency landing with the cabin open. Luckily the place was not occupied and there were no serious injuries. A passenger may now have experienced another small miracle: although his iPhone had been sucked out of the plane through the hole, it now reappeared. Without visible damage.
“We found an iPhone on the side of the road,” reports Twitter user Seanathan Bates. When he unlocked the phone, he discovered the incredible: “It was still in airplane mode and had half a battery charge. And it showed a baggage confirmation for Alaska Airlines flight ASA1282. It survived a 16,000-foot drop unscathed,” he marveled the Finder. The height is 4877 meters. The so-called Dynamic Island can be seen in the pictures, so it is either one of the current iPhone 15 or an iPhone 14 Pro.
Understandable skepticism
The tweet was initially met with skepticism, of course. Users asked themselves how the device could have survived the fall. The fact that Bates could easily unlock it was also irritating. But he was able to quickly explain the latter: the device was not locked by a passcode, he explained. And: When asked, the airline confirmed that it was not the only smartphone that was found after falling from the plane.
In fact, Bates was soon able to rely on official sources: In a press conference, the US transport authority NTSB confirmed that two smartphones had fallen out of the plane – one of them on the side of the road. The second device was discovered in the backyard of a house. However, no details such as the condition or exact model are known about the second smartphone.
How fast does an iPhone fall?
In fact, this is not the first time that a smartphone has survived an extremely high fall. Back in 2011, “Wired” reported on a case in which an iPhone 4 also survived a fall from an airplane. Even if “only” from a height of almost 400 meters. The magazine explained the good condition at the time with the physics of the fall: Because of its shape, the device reaches maximum speed in the downdraft at some point – and then no longer gets any faster. If it then falls onto something that cushions the fall – such as bushes or soft ground – this can cushion the impact to such an extent that the device escapes without major damage.
In the end, the greater miracle for the unknown owner may be that they survived the flight unscathed. The fact that the lost iPhone turns up again is certainly a welcome bonus.