Monitoring Desk
NEW YORK: An Apple iPhone — intact, uncracked, and with plenty of battery life left despite plummeting from over 16,000 feet — was found by a Portland resident near where debris from Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 was discovered over the weekend after the flight experienced a midair blowout of one of its doors.
Sean Bates said he found the iPhone on the roadside of Route 26 near Beaverton, Ore., still in Airplane Mode and displaying a baggage claim ticket for Alaska Airlines Flight 1282.
The phone appeared to be a recent model iPhone, in a hard case, and even had a part of a broken-off charging plug still in the port — suggesting the device flew out of the plane with some force when the door blew out midflight.
The National Transportation Safety Board confirmed Sunday during a press conference that two cell phones from the flight were discovered, including the one Bates found.
The other cellphone was said to be found in a backyard.
NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy also confirmed the door plug that blew off the flight was found in the same area by a teacher, KOIN reported.
Alaska Airlines flight 1282 was carrying 171 passengers and six crew members from Portland, Oregon, to Ontario, California, on Friday when the door blew out at about 16,000 feet, causing the cabin to immediately lose pressure.
The flight made an emergency landing at Portland International Airport 35 minutes after takeoff. No serious injuries were reported.
Bates’ posts about the phone have circulated widely on both X and TikTok, with many wondering how the device was able to survive such a fall.
“How is this possible? I’ve dropped my iPhone off the kitchen table and it didn’t make it” one user said.
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!
