Skydiver’s iPhone 4 Survives Free Fall of 13,500, Makes Calls

Because Apple needs more free publicity.

Although some iPhones don’t do well on even short drops- I know of three people who’ve cracked iPhones irreparably just dropping them on to New York City concrete from texting level- one skydiver’s iPhone 4 bucked the iPhone breakage trend, buying Apple some hella awesome free PR. Actually, Minnesotan Jarrod McKinney’s toddler cracked the device dropping it from a bathroom shelf, but that incident was only the start of the torture awaiting McKinney’s iPhone 4.

The whole tale reads like an iPhone ad, except for the part where it slipped from McKinney’s pocket at 13,000+ feet. But then, McKinney located it using an app, and hilarity ensued:

He found the gadget, its glass surfaces shattered, on top of a building about a half-mile away from where he landed with his parachute. Joe Johnson, a skydiving instructor, said he and a few friends watched from the ground below the two-story building as McKinney raised the phone above his head in triumph after he located it using a GPS tracking app… Just to be funny, Johnson decided to call the busted phone.

He didn’t expect the call to go through. But it did… McKinney felt the phone vibrate and started laughing.

While the skydiver’s phone is operational, it isn’t practical to make calls on it- the entire screen is shattered. McKinney plans to get the device repaired, and also intends to zip his pants pocket the next time he goes skydiving.