All passengers on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 were reported safe after a plug used to fill an unneeded exit blew out of the aircraft, leaving a large hole. A sudden depressurization occurred at approximately 16,000 feet and ripped loose items into the void. As the Washington Post reports, after the plane touched down in Portland, OR, resident Sean Bates contacted the National Transportation Safety Board [NTSB] with a surprise discovery – a working iPhone. The NTSB confirmed that the device “likely” fell from the damaged aircraft.
Bates shared his find on social media, showing a photo of the device displaying baggage claim information from the flight. The iPhone, which was reportedly in “airplane” mode, was still operational, without even a cracked screen. Commenters noted that another cell phone also may have survived the drop.
Duncan Watts, postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics at the University of Oslo, explained that air resistance would have acted on the iPhone, tossing it around instead of letting it plummet like a stone. “If the phone is falling with its screen facing the ground, there’s quite a lot of drag, but if the phone is falling straight up and down, there’s quite a bit less,” he told the Post. “In reality, the phone would be tumbling quite a bit, and get quite a lot of wind, essentially giving an upward force.”
Had the phone landed on a hard surface, the outcome would not have been favorable for the device, but a cushioned grassy landing spared it from a crash landing. “If the iPhone fell on a grassy patch, then it definitely could have survived the fall,” said Watts. “If the phone was facing straight down, it would have gone from about 30 mph to stationary on a relatively cushy surface, a little less force than if I decided to stomp on it. If it fell on some damp ground, I could see it having about an inch of cushion,” he continued. “That’s maybe what plopping down on a chair would feel like.”
While Apple does not recommend either stomping or “plopping” on one’s iPhone, the company does caution that the device shouldn’t be dropped. Under normal conditions, an iPhone should be able to withstand a short fall.
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