iPhone Survives 16,000-Foot Drop After Alaska Airlines Plane Incident

An iPhone that was expelled from the cabin of Alaska Airlines flight 1282 on Friday survived a fall of more than 16,000 feet and was discovered intact.

recovered alaska phone
Vancouver, Washington resident Sean Bates shared images of the device on Sunday after he found it on the side of Barnes Road in Portland, Oregon. The ‌iPhone‌ was in full working condition and was in fact still open to an Alaska Airlines email. There were no cracks on the display, though it was protected by a case and presumably landed in a forested area with soft ground cover.

Bates alerted the National Transportation Safety Board, and officials came out to collect the device. The NTSB told Bates that it was the second phone to be found from the flight in the area.


The ‌iPhone‌ was expelled from Alaska Airlines flight 1282 after a portion of the plane blew out shortly after it took off from the Portland International Airport. The aircraft was able to safely land back at the Portland airport, and all passengers and crew members survived.

The sudden depressurization in the cabin of the plane caused items like smartphones to be sucked out, where they fell to the ground below. In 2011, Wired wrote a piece on the terminal velocity of an ‌iPhone‌ falling from a plane, which is a good explainer on how the device was able to survive. In a nutshell, the low weight and maximum speed of the ‌iPhone‌ leads to a limited amount of force on landing despite the height of the fall, so the end result isn't too much different from dropping it from a lower height.

There were two smartphones found from the plane, along with other debris such as the plug door that may give some insight into what went wrong.

Popular Stories

AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Friday April 18, 2025 5:16 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday April 17, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
Beyond iPhone 13 Better Triad

Apple's 20th Anniversary iPhone May Finally Go All Screen

Tuesday April 15, 2025 6:31 am PDT by
Apple is preparing a "bold" new iPhone Pro model for the iPhone's 20th anniversary in 2027, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. As part of what's being described as a "major shake-up," Apple is said to be developing a design that makes more extensive use of glass – and this could point directly to the display itself. Here's the case for Apple releasing a truly all-screen iPhone with no...
maxresdefault

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Sunday April 13, 2025 7:52 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and ...
CarPlay Hero

Apple Releases Wireless CarPlay Fix

Wednesday April 16, 2025 11:28 am PDT by
If you have been experiencing issues with wireless CarPlay in your vehicle lately, it was likely due to a software bug that has now been fixed. Apple released iOS 18.4.1 today, and the update's release notes say it "addresses a rare issue that prevents wireless CarPlay connection in certain vehicles." If wireless CarPlay was acting up for you, updating your iPhone to iOS 18.4.1 should...
top stories 2025 04 19

Top Stories: iPhone 17 Pro Rumors, CarPlay Bug Fix, and More

Saturday April 19, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
This week saw rumor updates on the iPhone 17 Pro and next-generation Vision Pro, while a minor iOS 18.4.1 update delivered not just security fixes but also a fix for some CarPlay issues. We also looked ahead at what else is in Apple's pipeline for the rest of 2025 and even the 20th-anniversary iPhone coming in 2027, so read on below for all the details on these stories and more! iPhone 17 ...
iOS 18

iOS 18.5 Includes Only a Few Changes So Far

Monday April 21, 2025 11:00 am PDT by
Apple seeded the third beta of iOS 18.5 to developers today, and so far the software update includes only a few minor changes. The changes are in the Mail and Settings apps. In the Mail app, you can now easily turn off contact photos directly within the app, by tapping on the circle with three dots in the top-right corner. In the Settings app, AppleCare+ coverage information is more...

Top Rated Comments

rorschach Avatar
17 months ago
AirDrop
Score: 154 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ProfessionalFan Avatar
17 months ago
YouTubers who do drop tests need to up their game
Score: 74 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kiensoy Avatar
17 months ago
How come it had no passcode?
Score: 36 Votes (Like | Disagree)
schlitzz Avatar
17 months ago
iPhone. More durable than a Boeing…
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sw1tcher Avatar
17 months ago
An iPhone that was expelled from the cabin of Alaska Airlines flight 1282 on Friday survived a fall of more than 16,000 feet and was discovered intact.
Was the impact with the ground not enough to activate the iPhone's crash detection ('https://support.apple.com/en-afri/104959')?
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
thinsays Avatar
17 months ago
I'm surprised the screen didn't lock though
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)