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iPhone survives 1,000-foot plummet from plane

Image credit: Ernesto Gallioto/Arquivo pessoal

An iPhone 6S tumbled out of an airplane window during a flyby of the Lakes Region of Rio de Janeiro and was later recovered in working condition on the beach.

The phone belonged to environmentalist and filmmaker Ernesto Galiotto, who was flying nearly 1000 feet above Praia do Peru in Brazil when it fell from his hand.

The flight was to commemorate the renewal of the International Blue Flag Seal, a symbol that recognizes the environmental quality of the beach. Authorities had restricted the event to officials only to avoid coronavirus transmission.

In the video, available on Globo's site, shows the moment where the phone fell.

The fall lasted about 15 seconds before the phone landed on a sandbar. Galiotto said the phone had landed face-down, and the only damage was to the phone's screen protector. Galiotto and a friend recovered the phone the next morning after tracking it via GPS.

Image credit: Ernesto Gallioto/Arquivo pessoal
Image credit: Ernesto Gallioto/Arquivo pessoal

This isn't the first time an iPhone has survived such a fall. In 2018, an iPhone was recovered in working condition after it fell 1,000 feet during a ride in a vintage biplane.

That same year, an iPhone 7 Plus survived a 300-foot drop from an amusement park ride in Orlando, Florida.

Again, in 2018, an iPhone 7 took a two-day dip in the ocean after being dropped from a boat off the coast of Dorset, England. The phone — which was housed in a waterproof case — was recovered with 84 percent battery life and returned to the owner.