U.S. Air Force Combat Controller Ron Walker accidentally dropped his iPhone 4 out of a plane while working as a Jump Master, according to iLounge.
Walker is responsible for ensuring that the plane is in correct position before sending parachute jumpers out. When he stuck his body out of the plane to look for landmarks the phone came out of his pocket and took flight.
Once on the ground, Mr. Walker shared the story with his co-workers, and ended up downloading the Find My iPhone app onto a friend’s phone. Within roughly a minute, the app had found his phone, which was roughly two miles away in a wooded area between a two-lane highway and a lake. Plotting the phone’s position on maps, Mr. Walker and a friend headed out on ATVs to see if they could track the phone down, if only so Mr. Walker could attempt to back up his data for transfer to a replacement unit. Within an hour, the two had pinpointed the phone’s location near a tree, ultimately finding the phone in complete working order, apparently with nary a scratch or patch of dirt on it. Mr. Walker says that the phone only had a Griffin Motif TPU case and an aftermarket metal backing on it for protection; he believes that the phone’s fall may have been slowed by tree leaves and needles as it made its way towards land.
I dropped my 3G iphone from my pocket on my race bike at 180kmh, it sat in the curb for 8 hours, and when I finally found it, it was working perfectly... the screen was worse off for the crash, but considering it hit the ground at over 100 mph and then lay on the hard asphalt being run over by cars and trucks, I would say Apple make a kick ass strong product.
if they are implying apple products are a good design for being dropped, they are wrong. my ipod touch fell 300feet and was completely demolished (although it does turn on and the screen shows a picture) everything is cracked and the case looks like a pringles chip.
im sure any phone could have survived if it was hitting branches and leafs/etc on the way down. my ipod fell straight onto gravel.
Well Eric, it has nothing to do with the iPhones exterior. The fact that the phones owner had protection with accessories. It has to do with the internal parts. 1000 foot drop would usually leave a phone in pieces and in shambles.