Skip to Content

iPhone 4 survives 1,000 foot fall from Air Force plane

by Dave Caolo Mar 23rd 2011 at 12:45PM

Late last night, we received an email from U.S. Air Force Combat Controller Ron Walker, who wrote to tell us an incredible story about his iPhone 4 and a minor workplace mishap.

Staff Sergeant Walker's duties as a jump master require him to ensure that his aircraft is in the proper location before sending parachute jumpers into the air. One week ago (on March 16), he stuck his body out of the plane's open door to look for landmarks as the plane sped through the air at 130 knots (about 150 mph), about 1,000 feet above the ground.

As he did so, the Velcro seal on his pocket flew open, and out popped his iPhone. Airman Walker could do nothing but watch it fall away from the plane; he assumed it was lost forever, not to mention destroyed by the fall (for reference, that drop is roughly equivalent to tossing a phone off of a 90-story skyscraper).

Later, he told his tale of loss to his colleagues on the ground, one of whom installed the Find My iPhone app on his iPhone. Within minutes, the app found the wayward phone, still active, and Walker and his buddy hopped on ATVs and tracked it down in a wooded area about 2 miles away.

Not only was the iPhone undamaged, Walker reports, it was in perfect working order -- "not a scratch on it, not even dirty." That's the phone itself in the photo above.

The phone was wearing a Griffin case at the time of its unexpected journey, but no special aerodynamic protection. (It wasn't even this Griffin case, which is designed to meet military standards.)

Thanks to Staff Sgt. Walker for sharing this iPhone recovery saga, and for his continuing service to our country. We're glad it turned out so well. Next time, however, make sure the iPhone is wearing a parachute and carrying a flare gun.

[Airman Walker also shared his story separately with iLounge.]



View Tags

Related Stories

Categories

iPhone

Late last night, we received an email from U.S. Air Force Combat Controller Ron Walker, who wrote to tell us an incredible story about...
 

Add a Comment

Sign in »
*0 / 3000 Character Maximum Comment Moderation Enabled. Your comment will appear after it is cleared by an editor.

67 Comments

Filter by:
gary

Always wondered if there was any chance that a herniated disk could be fixed by the jolt of a parachute opening. Short of surgery nothing else seems to work :(.

March 29 2011 at 12:18 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Mats Svensson

What is the status on the dude it passed right trough?

March 27 2011 at 2:12 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Gregorysf4

And the article says "That's the phone itself in the photo above." Yeah, right, a picture of the BACK of the phone. Very cheesy, and a totally bogus article. So now someone needs to find the connection between Griffin and the author(s) of this bogus bogus story.

March 26 2011 at 4:04 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Louis

If an iPhone 4 can survive a 1000 foot drop, shouldn't the same hold true of Qaddafi?

March 25 2011 at 7:22 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
reed.shawn78

are you hight ?

March 25 2011 at 2:39 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
rwalk

Tex, hey buddy, As stated before, The phone was secured in a shoulder pocket of a multicam uniform. The force of the wind at 150mph Opened it and it flew out (I was leaning out the door). You people really need to relax with your accusations.

March 24 2011 at 6:17 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Tex

Gotta agree a little about the phone vs pocket comment (and I know what I'm talking about)- FOD in the plane is not good. Sure, s$%^ might happen but if someone FODs out my bird, we'd be having a one way conversation- do you JM's not wear bags? Sounds like DCU's but not sure.

March 24 2011 at 1:57 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
rwalk

Just to clear things up: it was a static line jump, that's why is was 1000', not 10,000'. Also, there is an aftermarket brushed metal backing, though I think it had little to do with the phone surviving, I think it had more to do with it falling through a tree and landing on a soft area. And I've already said it once. I have Find my iPhone on all stuff so It was already installed. I just used the service on a friends phone. If anyone is doubtfull I have about 30 witnesses, stop analyzing the story and just read it for what it is.

March 24 2011 at 11:54 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
rlerrington

I'm puzzled about the 1000 ft. I would have expected 10,000 ft for a jump. Doesn't sound like it would make a difference.

Also, for all who are complaining about smartphones using glass - I'm not sure that you could do the touchscreen technology with plastic.

March 24 2011 at 5:45 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
guy

Am I missing something? How can you install Find My Phone after its lost?!

March 24 2011 at 5:30 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Buy an ad here

Hot Apps on TUAW

Tweets

© 2012 AOL Inc. All Rights Reserved.