An iPhone amazingly survives a drop from a plane with no damage

When a phone and a plane are in the same sentence, most of the time the story is about exploding batteries or something else that’s bad. Well, there is finally an airplane-related phone story with a happy ending.

A pilot of a twin-engine light aircraft dropped his iPhone on the runway during takeoff. Fortunately, the pilot was able to use the Find My app and locate the device, which led searchers right to it. The iPhone was dropped at the runway of the Orlando Executive Airport in Florida, which is used mostly for business jets and other small aircraft.

A recording from the air traffic control tower documenting the search for the iPhone was uploaded on YouTube. The airport’s staff praises how accurate the location from the Find My app was. The app showed the iPhone is 1000 feet down the runway right of the centerline, and this location turned out to be exactly right.

The next surprise is when the person that found the phone stated the device is fully intact. This was very surprising for air traffic control, as they were sure the screen of the phone is cracked. After all, the iPhone was dropped at a speed of around 50 to 60 miles an hour during takeoff. The air traffic controller further elaborated that most of the time, an iPhone doesn’t survive a drop from just a couple of feet, let alone from a flying plane.

You can hear the whole conversation between air traffic control and the searcher on the ground below: