An iPhone that was sucked out of an aeroplane at 16,000 feet has been found intact and working.
The iPhone was lost when a door plug on the Boeing 737 Max 9 operated by Alaska Airlines unexpectedly ripped off mid-flight last Friday and sucked it, along with several other items, out into the air. Fortunately, all people on board remained safe and the plane landed safely in an emergency landing.
It wasn’t until Sunday that the iPhone was found by Sam Bates from Washington. He posted on X (formerly Twitter) that he found the iPhone on the side of a road, still in airplane mode, with half a battery and open on a baggage claim for the flight concerned – Alaska Airlines ASA1282. Part of the charger was also still stuck inside it. He added it was pretty clean with no scratches on it, and when he opened it up – there was no screen lock – he found the details for the flight.
Bates added that he contacted the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the federal agency investigating what happened, and was told it was the second phone that had been found after being sucked out of the plane. The NTSB has since confirmed this, with the other phone landing in a yard.
Since the incident, some 300 Boeing 737 Max 9s operated by Alaska Airlines and United Airlines – the only two US passenger airlines that use these aircraft – have been grounded until the authorities can make checks to ensure they are all safe to fly and a similar incident will not happen again.
