iPhone survives fall from Alaska Airlines flight that lost a door plug mid-air
20 minutes into its 2 hours journey on Friday night, Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 lost a fuselage panel, causing mid-air panic. While thankfully no passengers were seated near the door plug that blew off, two smartphones, including an iPhone, were sucked out of the plane.
The plane, a Boeing Co. 737 Max 9, was flying from Portland, Oregon, to Ontario, California, and was 16,000 feet in the air when it lost the door plug that left a huge hole in the aircraft.
Fortunately, the plane had not ascended to its cruising altitude of more than 30,000 feet, and successfully landed back in Portland without any human casualties. Some stuff got yanked out due to the explosive rush of air, including an iPhone which was found by X user Seanathan Bates on a Portland roadside.
Found an iPhone on the side of the road... Still in airplane mode with half a battery and open to a baggage claim for #AlaskaAirlines ASA1282 Survived a 16,000 foot drop perfectly in tact!
— Seanathan Bates (@SeanSafyre) January 7, 2024
When I called it in, Zoe at @NTSB said it was the SECOND phone to be found. No door yet pic.twitter.com/CObMikpuFd
Despite the 16,000-foot tumble, the iPhone was in pristine condition, with a broken-off piece of charger that remained stuck inside serving as the only sign that it witnessed some chaotic moments.
The phone was in airplane mode and unlocked, and there was an email from Alaska Airlines regarding a travel confirmation and baggage claim for the fight, which is how Bates found out that it fell out of the plane. It was working perfectly fine and had hours of battery life left.
The iPhone and the other handset -- which was found in a yard -- have been handed over to the National Transportation Safety Board which will return them to their rightful owners, reports FOX 10 Phoenix.
The fuselage panel that fell off was found in the backyard of a school teacher in Portland.
All 171 passengers and six crew members aboard the plane escaped without any serious injuries. The US Federal Aviation Administration has grounded some 170 Max 9 jets to carry out safety checks.
While it's certainly impressive that the iPhone remained unscathed after the brutal fall, we sure wish the incident hadn't happened and are glad that no lives were lost.
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