iPhone Found In Perfect Condition After Plummeting 16,000 Feet From Plane

Well, Apple’s marketing team is going to have a field day with this one.

On Friday, Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 was traveling from Portland, Oregon, to Ontario, California, when it had to make an emergency landing after a door plug suddenly ripped off, causing part of the fuselage to blow out and creating a large, gaping hole in the main cabin. The incident occurred shortly after takeoff, and no one was seriously hurt, but several items — including a child’s shirt that he was wearing — were sucked out of the Boeing 737-9 MAX aircraft.

A photo released by the National Transportation Safety Board of the exterior of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 on Sunday.

Another item that flew from the plane and plunged 16,000 feet was a new generation iPhone that was found in pretty stellar condition on a Portland, Oregon roadside, according to a social media user Sean Bates, who said he discovered the device.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Bates published a photo of the smartphone, which lacked any scratches or cracks. The screen was also conveniently unlocked — though it’s unclear why — and showed an emailed Alaska Airlines baggage receipt for a flight from Portland to Ontario that was sent Thursday. Bates says in his post that the phone was found on airplane mode “with half a battery.”

Bates also published a TikTok about his discovery, in which he says he “wanted an excuse” to go on a walk when he heard a report about Flight 1282, which included a request for area residents to alert the National Transportation Safety Board if any items from the flight were found. Bates lives in Vancouver, Washington, according to his X bio, which is very close to Portland.

A photo released by NTSB of the interior of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282.

“I was, of course, a little skeptical at first,” Bates says in his video about how he felt upon finding the phone. “I was thinking, ‘This could just been thrown out of a car, or someone dropped it while they were jogging.’” 

Bates said he found the phone “still pretty clean, no scratches on it, sitting under a bush.”

“And it didn’t have a screen lock on it, ao I opened it up and it was in airplane mode with a travel confirmation with baggage claim for Alaska 1282.”

NTSB confirmed at a briefing Sunday that two phones were found and turned in — and that one was found on the side of a road and another in a yard. 

“We’ll look through those and then return them” to passengers, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy told reporters Sunday. “It also helps in telling us, ‘Are we looking in the right area?”’