Photo: guvendemir / iStock Unreleased / Getty Images
An Oregon man claims he found an iPhone that fell 16,000 feet out of an Alaska Airlines flight that lost a door plug midflight. Sean Bates said he found the iPhone on the side of the road near Sunset Transit Center in Portland. Miraculously, the phone was undamaged and still on.
According to the Seattle Times, Bates is an aviation buff who follows post-crash investigations. When he learned that authorities were searching for the door plug from the plane, he decided to do some searching of his own. On Sunday, he was searching an area near the Sunset Transit Center when he found the iPhone in the bushes on the side of the road.
He turned on the phone, and it immediately opened to an email showing a baggage claim receipt for Alaska Airlines flight 1282.
He then reached out to the National Transportation Safety Board and turned over the phone so it could be returned to its owner. He noted that the woman he spoke to at the NTSB said it was the second phone from the flight that was found.
"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 intact!" Bates wrote on X after finding the phone on Sunday (January 7).
After the door plug on the Alaska Airlines flight blew out, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered all Boeing 373 Max 9 Jets to be grounded for an inspection.
The door was later found in the backyard of a Portland homeowner.
United Airlines, which operates 79 Max 9 Jets, said preliminary inspections discovered loose bolts near the door plug assembly.