Portland resident finds iPhone believed to have fallen 16K feet from blown-out Alaska flight

PORTLAND, Oreg. — A Portland resident says they found a phone believed to have fallen from a blown-out Alaska Airlines flight.

“Still in airplane mode with half a battery and open to a baggage claim for #AlaskaAirlines ASA1282,” Sean Bates said on X. “Survived a 16,000 foot drop perfectly intact!”

Bates says the phone was “still in airplane mode with half a battery and open to baggage claim” for flight 1282. He also noted that the NTSB told him it was the second phone from a passenger that had been found so far.

This comes after part of the fuselage of Alaska Flight 1282 blew out 16,000 feet in the air on a flight out of Portland on Friday evening. No one was injured, but Alaska has grounded its entire 737 MAX 9 fleet while the investigation into the incident continues.

The NTSB also recovered the door plug from the flight, found in the backyard of a Portland teacher.