Just how strong and durable is an Apple iPhone? Well, according to the latest reports, it is strong enough to survive a fall from 16,000 feet high in the sky. Now, we have all seen popular YouTubers doing drop tests of iPhone models from 1000 feet and above where, in most cases, they fail to survive. But in a real-life incident, an iPhone survived a whopping 16,000-feet drop. Even, the screen has been working fine with no major cracks on display.
According to a CNN report, the phone fell from the recent Alaska Airlines flight 1282. This same flight had its emergency exit door blown off a few minutes after taking off. Here’s what happened.
Apple iPhone Survived Drop From Plane
On January 6, 2024, an emergency exit door of Alaska Airlines flight 1282 broke within a few minutes of taking off. All the crew members and passengers on the flight were safe and the plane made an emergency landing as well. However, belongings of the passengers fell from the plane through the broken door.
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
On January 8, Seanathan Bates, a game designer, found an iPhone on the side of the road near Barnes. He called the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to report the matter where he learnt that it was the second phone to be found. The phone that Bates found had a broken charging cable plugged in indicating that during the time of the incident, it was plugged in for a charge. However, the suction force was so powerful that charger cable broke mid-air.
Bates said that when he found the iPhone lying on the road, it had no screen lock. When he unlocked the phone, the phone had airplane mode turned on and an email receipt of Alaska Airlines Baggage. NTSB is currently investigating the whole case.
How Did the iPhone Survive From High Altitude?
So how did the iPhone survive? Well, the simple answer is resistance. Wired, in 2011, published a deep detailed theory on the terminal velocity of an iPhone when a similar incident happened. The report mentioned that when an object falls, it goes through two things: fast speed and air resistance. An object, while falling, reaches a point when it can’t accelerate anymore because the air resistance is greater. This is called terminal velocity.
Duncan Watts, a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics at the University of Oslo via Washington Post said, “I think the counterintuitive thing here is that an iPhone falling from the sky doesn’t end up moving that quickly because of air resistance.” Watts mentioned that the phone would have broken down if it fell on a concrete surface but it fell in a bush that had grass.
This is not the first time an iPhone has survived a drop from such a massive altitude. In June 2023, Hatton Smith, a Tiktok user, also claimed to found a phone that dropped from his pocket while skydiving at 14,000 feet. But the main takeaway from the story is, that if your iPhone falls from the top and lands on concrete, it will break. If lands on soft ground or a field, it might just survive.
