Roger Fingas
A woman's iPhone was instrumental in summoning rescue, after a chartered boat capsized off the coast of Japan dumping her and her friends in the ocean.
The boat was overwhelmed by high seas, forcing all eight passengers to strap on life vests and jump overboard, NBC reported. Rachel — who works for FEMA in the U.S. — had an emergency "go bag" with her, in which the group kept its smartphones. While the first phone they tried didn't work, Rachel's unspecified iPhone did despite being exposed to water.
After calling an emergency number, the group was rescued by the Japan Coast Guard about 90 minutes later, airlifted by helicopter.
iPhones have had varying degrees of water resistance since the iPhone 6s. The iPhone 7 was the first model to have an official IP67 rating — the iPhone XS and XS Max go a step further with IP68 certification, meaning they can be immersed in 1.5 meters (about 5 feet) of fresh water for 30 minutes. Sea salt is incredibly conductive and highly damaging to electronics, making Rachel's case particularly lucky.
NBC was provided the story by Apple, which received a note from Rachel thanking the company for making a quality product. Apple CEO Tim Cook linked to the story on Twitter.
One woman says her iPhone saved her life when she and seven others on vacation in Japan got shipwrecked and lost in the middle of the ocean. @DylanDreyerNBC is in the Orange Room with more. pic.twitter.com/UnNIyq9YsZ
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) December 15, 2018
Christine McKee
Malcolm Owen
Amber Neely
Andrew O'Hara
13 Comments
Yay!
Sea Water is not going to have much of a effect in such a short period of time. It was already in a water proof back. You're in the water, take it out of the bag, and you have some time using it. It's not being held feet under water for hours, let alone minutes. Should have no problem lasting more than long enough to call for help so long as you have cell service.
it Also worked long enough to take a selfie. :-)
My iPhone saved my wife and me on February 10, 2012. We were hiking in the Blue Mountains outside Sydney, Australia when lightning hit a railing we were holding. Thousands of volts of electricity paralyzed us for I don't know how long. We fell and couldn't move. For a few minutes we lost our hearing from the loud thunder blast. Right after the lightning hit, rain poured and rocks, tree limbs, debris fell on us. Long story short, my wife almost severed a hand, I broke an ankle and was scalped from some heavy object that must have fallen on my head. We were both bleeding. I found my iPhone sticking out of the mud, its screen shattered. I dialed triple 0 and the call went thru! About a dozen EMT folks eventually came. My wife, nearing hypothermia, was helicoptered out. I was coaxed to walk up 600 steps to street level where a TV crew filmed me being put in an ambulance. So we were on TV and the newspapers.
One surgery for me and three for my wife later, we were saved.
To cap this survival story, I walked in an Apple Store to get my phone replaced. The Apple employee, seeing me on crutches and my left leg in a cast asked. 'So what's your story?' While I told him. I got my credit card out for the $260 cost of replacement, He said, 'Put it away. I've heard enough. It's on us.'
So thanks, iPhone. And thanks, Apple!