Get All Access for $5/mo

'Perfectly Intact': Man Miraculously Finds iPhone on the Side of the Road That Reportedly Flew Out of Airplane The iPhone is believed to belong to a passenger from Friday's Alaska Airlines flight where a door flew off the aircraft.

By Emily Rella

An Oregon man found an iPhone on the side of the road that's believed to have dropped from the Alaska Airlines flight that lost a plane door mid-flight.

Related: United Airlines, Alaska Airlines Find 'Loose Bolts' on Plane Doors Following Inspections

Portland, Oregon resident Sean Bates shared photos on X of an iPhone he found on the ground on the side of the road that had, somehow, appeared to have come from the plane and survived the fall.

"Still in airplane mode with half a battery and open to a baggage claim for #AlaskaAirlines ASA1282," he wrote. "Survived a 16,000-foot drop perfectly intact!"

In a follow-up photo, he showed part of a phone charger plug that was broken off but still inside the phone's port, showing the strength of the force that "yanked" the phone out of the plane.

Related: 'Grateful to be Alive': Passengers Recall Harrowing Moment Airplane Door Flew Off Alaska Airlines Flight

Bates also said that when he contacted the National Transportation Safety Board, he was told that it was miraculously the second phone found on the ground from the flight, which he explained in a separate TikTok.

@seansafyre quick story of how I found a phone that dropped 16,000 feet ? definitely belonged to a passenger on #alaskaairlines #asa1282 ♬ original sound - Sean Bates

"I was, of course, a little skeptical at first. I was thinking this could just be thrown out of a car or someone dropped it while driving," he told viewers. "But I found it. It was still pretty clean, no scratches on it, sitting under a bush, and it didn't have a screen lock on it."

Related: Alaska Airlines Brewing Coffee That Tastes Better In the Air

The missing door plug was located over the weekend, something investigators said could be the key to figuring out what went awry onboard Friday night's flight.

As of Tuesday afternoon, United and Alaska Airlines have grounded all of their Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft for investigation and have canceled a combined 317 flights.

If you've ever dropped your iPhone and picked it up to find a broken screen, we also find this unbelievable — and want to know what kind of case, if any, was on the phone.

Emily Rella

Entrepreneur Staff

Senior News Writer

Emily Rella is a Senior News Writer at Entrepreneur.com. Previously, she was an editor at Verizon Media. Her coverage spans features, business, lifestyle, tech, entertainment, and lifestyle. She is a 2015 graduate of Boston College and a Ridgefield, CT native. Find her on Twitter at @EmilyKRella.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Editor's Pick

Starting a Business

I Left the Corporate World to Start a Chicken Coop Business — Here Are 3 Valuable Lessons I Learned Along the Way

Board meetings were traded for barnyards as a thriving new venture hatched.

Business News

'Passing By Wide Margins': Elon Musk Celebrates His 'Guaranteed Win' of the Highest Pay Package in U.S. Corporate History

Musk's Tesla pay package is almost 140 times higher than the annual pay of other high-performing CEOs.

Business News

Joey Chestnut Is Going From Nathan's to Netflix for a Competition 15 Years in the Making

Chestnut was banned from this year's Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest due to a "rival" contract. Now, he'll compete in a Netflix special instead.

Marketing

Are Your Business's Local Listings Accurate and Up-to-Date? Here Are the Consequences You Could Face If Not.

Why accurate local listings are crucial for business success — and how to avoid the pitfalls of outdated information.

Money & Finance

Day Traders Often Ignore This One Topic At Their Peril

Boring things — like taxes — can sometimes be highly profitable.

Growing a Business

He Immigrated to the U.S. and Got a Job at McDonald's — Then His Aversion to Being 'Too Comfortable' Led to a Fast-Growing Company That's Hard to Miss

Voyo Popovic launched his moving and storage company in 2018 — and he's been innovating in the industry ever since.