Takes a licking and keeps on ticking

There were 171 passengers and six crew members on Alaska Airlines flight number 1282 when it took off from Portland, Oregon, en route to Ontario, California. A covered exit door “plug” on the left side of the fuselage tore off at 16,000 feet shortly after takeoff, depressurizing the plane while forcing the pilots to turn back and land safely. No one was sitting directly in the window seat next to the torn-off door plug. However, a teenage boy and his mother were in the middle and aisle seats, and a passenger who spoke with NBC described how the son’s shirt was completely sucked off his body. Social media videos showed passengers wearing oxygen masks as the plane made an emergency landing back in Portland. Flight 1282 landed safely back in Portland about 20 minutes after takeoff. All of the passengers and crew landed safely, although a few passengers had minor injuries that required medical attention.

Among the harrowing details of the sudden decompression event on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, one revelation seemed to defy the laws of physics: one of the two mobile phones that had been sucked out of Boeing Co. 737 Max 9 jet’s cabin remained in functioning condition after a 16,000-foot tumble. An iPhone landed intact, unlocked and with hours of battery life remaining on a Portland, Oregon roadside, found by Seanathan Bates. The recovered phone screen showed an email from Alaska Airlines about a baggage claim for the flight, based on Bates’ photos. The phone was in airplane mode, Bates said, “It was still pretty clean, no scratches on it, sitting under a bush and it didn’t have the screenlock on it,” he said.

The National Transportation Safety Board confirmed at a briefing on Sunday that one phone was found on the side of a road and another in a yard. The people have handed in both of the devices, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy told reporters. “We’ll look through those and then return them.”  “It also helps in telling us, ‘Are we looking in the right area?”’ The fuselage panel (door plug) that blew off the plane was later discovered in the backyard of a Portland-based schoolteacher.

Apple says on its website that iPhone or its battery can be damaged if dropped. In this case, the only part that appeared broken in Bates’ post was the charger cord; even the screen was intact. The end of the cord was still plugged into the phone, but the rest of the cable was detached. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration temporarily grounded more than 170 Max 9 aircraft to conduct safety checks before they can be  returned to service.

Look what I found

What is the speed limit for luggage at the airport?
Terminal velocity.

I just told my luggage there will be no vacations this year.
Now I’m dealing with emotional baggage.

I tried to sue the airport for losing my luggage.
I lost my case.

What do you call a snail’s luggage?
Its cargo

Do you ever wonder what happens to your luggage once you checked it in?
So does British Airways.

January 10th Birthdays

1953 – Pat Benatar, 1961 – Janet Jones-Gretzky, 1989 – Zuria Vega, 1986 – Saleisha Stowers

1949 – George Foreman, 1974 – Hrishik Rothan, 1945 – Rod Stewart, 1953 – Bobby Rahal

Morning Motivator: