Video shows iPhone falling out of skydiver's pocket and landing safely after 14,000 foot drop
A TikTok video (via AppleInsider) posted back in February by a skydiver seems to show his iPhone slipping out of a pocket and fluttering through the sky before it fell 14,000 feet back to Earth. The device landed on its side in a soft, grassy, muddy field. That landing spot was one of the reasons why the phone survived the fall. Also helping the phone survive was the sturdy case that was used on the device which looks like it might be able to absorb a hit.
We don't know which iPhone model took the 14,000 foot tumble and we're sure that there are more than a few iPhone users watching this video who are wondering why this iPhone survived such a long fall from the sky while their iPhone suffered a cracked screen after falling two feet onto a shag carpet. It should be noted that most cases designated as "rugged" will claim to protect a handset from falls from as high up as six feet.
@capt_rumcoffee When your phone falls out of your pocket at 14,000 feet #fail#screammovie♬ original sound - Hatton Smith
This isn't the first time that an iPhone fell out of the sky and survived. While not quite as dramatic as a 14,000 foot fall, over a one-week period in 2018, two iPhone handsets fell 450 feet and 1,000 feet out of the hands of their owners before landing back on Earth. An iPhone 7 Plus fell after a woman on the StarFlyer ride located on International Drive in Orlando lost her grip on the phone and as it dropped 450 feet, the phone recorded a video of its rapid descent.
During the same week, a woman and her friend rented an old biplane (think of those old planes with two wings one on top of the cockpit and the other on the bottom of the plane's body) for a sightseeing flight. At about 1,000 feet up, the woman had her iPhone ripped from her hands by a gust of wind. When the plane landed, she used the Find My app to locate her device which had landed safely, without a scratch, in tall grass.
There are some lessons to be learned here. Don't take your iPhone with you when skydiving. If you must take your iPhone with you on a carnival rise or in an airplane that does not have an enclosed section for seating, leave the device in your pocket and don't assume that you'll be able to maintain a tight grip on the device.
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