Many of us have left something on a plane at some point. However, we probably haven’t then spent three days watching said item travel around the world, with no one apparently willing to help.
Qantas passenger loses iPhone, tracks it for days
There’s a thread on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum that’s both entertaining and kind of dismaying. Long story short, a couple flew from Sydney to Auckland with Qantas, and then they realized that their iPhone was left behind. Thanks to the “Find My iPhone” feature, they could see that the phone was left behind on the plane.
You’d think the phone would be easy enough to recover, as they had the plane’s registration code (VH-QPA) and they knew what seat the passenger was in (3E, in business class). But despite reaching out to Qantas (including the baggage office and even the first class lounge phone number), nobody was seemingly willing to help, even while the plane was on the ground in Sydney.
So the iPhone flew from Sydney to Auckland to Sydney, then it flew from Sydney to Honolulu to Sydney, then it flew from Sydney to Auckland to Sydney again. All along, the iPhone’s owners were tracking it, as I guess the battery must have been pretty full when the phone was lost. At this point the phone would have racked up elite status if it had a Qantas Frequent Flyer number. 😉
A couple of thoughts:
- There are always announcements about the risk of a fire if a phone gets stuck inside a seat; since the phone was presumably stuck somewhere in a business class seat, you’d think an effort would be made to find the iPhone from a safety perspective, if nothing else
- This shows you how both the cleaning between flights as well as security checks don’t really do a whole lot to find objects that may be in the cabin and left behind from another flight
So, how was the iPhone finally found?
After the plane flew three roundtrip international sectors, there was finally a positive update. When the plane landed in Sydney for the third time, another forum member somehow provided assistance with retrieving the phone from the plane (it’s not clear if this was a fellow passenger who happened to be flying on the plane, or a Qantas employee who participates in the forum).
The iPhone owner received a call from a Qantas employee, who said that they had the phone and were taking it to international baggage services. The iPhone owner was in Auckland at this point, but was able to grab the phone when returning to Sydney the following week.
bottom line
Losing something on a plane is never fun, and I can’t decide if it sucks more or less if you can track the lost item traveling around the world, all without anyone willing to help. One Qantas business class passenger lost their iPhone on a Sydney to Auckland flight, and then the plane operated five more sectors before the phone was finally recovered.
Have any OMAAT readers watched a tracked device travel around the world without them?
(Tip of the hat to @bne99)