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 ...