Ever wondered whether an iPhone could survive being sucked out of a depressurized commercial aircraft at 16,000 feet? Me neither. But now we know.
Among all the shocking information that’s come out in the wake of the recent incident with an Alaska Airlines plane rapidly depressurizing after losing an emergency exit door plug, nobody was expecting an ultimate iPhone drop test. Seanathan Bates, who was in the area near where the incident occurred, posted some shocking photos on X after finding a perfectly intact iPhone that had been yanked from its owner in the plane.
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!
When I called it in, Zoe at @NTSB said it was the SECOND phone to be found. No door yet😅 pic.twitter.com/CObMikpuFd
— Seanathan Bates (@SeanSafyre) January 7, 2024
Frozen in time, the iPhone was still in airplane mode with an Alaska Airlines baggage receipt email on the screen. Scarier yet was the end of a charging cable that was sheared off in the charging port of the phone — yes, the depressurization of the cabin was rapid indeed. Thankfully, the phone was treated to what looks like a soft landing spot on the side of a road West of downtown Portland — and perhaps the case and screen protector had something to do with its resiliency.
Bates wrote that after calling in his remarkable find to the NTSB (smart guy!), they said that it was actually the second phone from the plane that had been found. Presumably, even more debris and personal items are scattered around the area to be discovered, though none as important as the actual door, which landed in a Portland resident’s backyard.
It’s incredible that nobody was hurt — either in the air or on the ground — as a result of this event, and now we can be happy that even their phones were left unscathed as well.
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