Lost in the Sky: The AirPods That Fell 16,000 Feet and Lived to Tell the Tale
When Rachel Campos got on her Alaska Airlines flight from San Francisco to Seattle, she had no idea that her AirPods were about to turn part of a high-altitude mystery that would enchant thousands online.
It began with turbulency—mild, but enough to make passengers grapple their armrests. Rachel, settling into her podcast about unresolved crimes, leaned back and unbent. As the plane shaken slightly, one of her AirPods fell out. Instinctively, she reached for it, but it disappeared between the seat and wall. Bothered but resigned, she made a mental note to check under the seat after landing.
Except the plane didn’t land normally.
Nearly an hour later, passengers were shaken again—this time by the emergency announcement. A panel in the fuselage had torn away mid-flight, and the plane was making a forced landing in Portland. In the bedlam, Rachel forgot about her AirPod.
The following day, after the spectacular landing made headlines, Rachel received a strange notification: Your AirPod was last seen near Beaverton, Oregon. Disconcerted, she opened the Find My app. There it was—pinging from a grassy field almost 20 miles from the emergency landing place.
"That can not be true," she mumbled. But curiosity won.
She contacted a friend who lived near. They rode to the field marked on the app. There, sparkling in the grass like a diminutive tech treasure, was her AirPod—dirty, but otherwise intact. And unbelievably, it still worked.
Word circulate rapidly. A tech YouTuber discovered the story. Engineers weighed in online, astounded that a single AirPod had outlived a fall from almost 16,000 feet during a mid-air emergency and worked afterwards.
Apple did not comment officially, but users called it "the most toughened little gadget alive."
Rachel’s story became a viral Reddit thread, then a podcast episode titled The AirPod That Fell From Heaven. And the AirPod? She keeps it in a small clear case on her desk, like a war medal.
“I will never look at them the same way again,” she says with a smile. “They may be small, but they have been through more than most of us ever will.”:
Want more jaw-dropping true tech tales? Subscribe to our newsletter — real-life stories that really occurred, delivered weekly.
About the AuthorPassionate about uncovering real-life stories that surprise, inspire, and stick with readers long after the last word, I dive deep into the extraordinary hidden in the everyday. From bizarre tech tales to unforgettable human moments, my mission is to turn true events into must-read experiences.
📱 Check out my favorite gear featured in today's story: https://amzn.to/4iPUX0G

Comments
Post a Comment