POLAR PLUNGE

Phone Sucked Out of Alaska Airlines Flight Is Found 16,000 Feet Below: Report

The iPhone still worked after plummeting 16,000 feet to the ground in Portland, Oregon, according to the man who claimed he found it.

An iPhone ripped out of an Alaska Airlines aircraft after a fuselage blowout was reportedly found over the weekend by a man in Portland, Oregon. Sean Bates shared images of the device on X, writing that he’d discovered it on the side of the road. “Still in airplane mode with half a battery and open to a baggage claim” email for the flight, he added. “Survived a 16,000 foot drop perfectly [intact]!” He said that a National Transportation Safety Board staffer told him it was the second passenger phone found after the incident. Bates made the discovery while out for a Sunday walk, sweeping for a door plug the board had asked the public for help in locating. The plug was found in a Portland school teacher’s backyard on Sunday, a board official said at a news conference.