An iPhone survived a 16,000-foot (almost 5,000 meters) fall after being ejected from the cabin of Alaska Airlines flight 1282 when a door plug exploded mid-flight.
Surely you have seen the story of the plane these days, what’s new is that a phone from that accident has been recovered in perfect condition. The incident gives a new meaning to the term AirDrop.
The phone was found by a citizen of Portland, Oregon. According to Sean Bates, who wrote on Twitter: “Still in airplane mode with half battery and open for a baggage claim for #AlaskaAirlines ASA1282”. Surprisingly, there wasn’t a scratch on the screen.
How does a phone survive a drop of almost 5 km?
Apple devices are known for being quite resilient. In 2021, an iPhone was found at the bottom of a lake in British Columbia after being there for six months. And the best part is that months later they managed to turn it on.
You may wonder how it is possible for an iPhone to survive a 4,800-meter fall. After all, it is not something common and Apple has not designed their phones to come out unscathed.
However, it is not as far-fetched as one might think, and it all comes down to physics. According to Duncan Watts, from the Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics at the University of Oslo (via The Washington Post), “the basic answer is air resistance”. After a certain amount of time falling, the iPhone reaches terminal velocity, which means it can no longer accelerate due to the effect of air resistance.
For an iPhone, the terminal velocity is about 50 km/h if it falls face down, or about 160 km/h if it falls perpendicular to the ground. In reality, it would be tumbling, so we don’t know the exact speed at which it fell to the ground.
Of course, landing on a concrete road would have caused much more damage to the phone. But it seems that it was found on a grass bank or among foliage, which would have cushioned its fall.
So, even though landing from 4,000 meters high and coming out unscathed may seem unlikely at first, it seems that an iPhone has achieved it. But just in case, don’t try to throw your smartphone from a plane: it might not end well.
