Passenger uses Find My iPhone app to locate phone dropped from plane
A US businessman has inadvertently demonstrated the utility of the Find My iPhone app, after using it to locate his phone dropped 9,300ft during a flight from Houston.
Ben Wilson and his pilot were travelling across Texas in a Beechcraft Bonanza when a sudden pressure change caused a door to come ajar, causing some belongings, including the phone, to be sucked out of the craft.
It fell 2,835m to hit the ground in a rural pasture beneath a mesquite tree, where it lay until Wilson returned to the scene armed with a GPS tracker.
Recalling the incident Wilson told the Witchita Falls Times record News: “The pressure popped and a newspaper flew out but I didn’t see the phone go. After we got back I looked for it on the floor [of the plane] and in my briefcase but couldn’t find it.”
Fortunately for Wilson the phone was still fully functional despite its high velocity descent.