frontenac551

On another (non-travel board) I frequent, someone just posted about her daughter's phone being "lost in the hull". The story is that the phone fell out of her lap and fell into the hull of the plane. Presumably, through some slot/hole in the floor (details not given). Is that even remotely possible? I don't think I've ever noticed a slot/hole big enough that a phone could slip through (even if perfectly aligned). A Google search only found the thread that was posted. I know that they now make announcements about asking for help if you lose your phone in your seat (so you don't accidentally crush the battery), but this is the first time I've ever heard of a phone falling through the floor. I have known people to lose the phone because it slid under the seats (when plane wasn't level), but that's not what's being claimed.

BarneyMcGrew

From the title I thought you were referring to the terrible thought of being lost in Hull (as in the UK City).

Which would be a terrifying prospect anyway (and I was born there!).

As for the phone on the aircraft, I can only imagine it must have got into the air conditioning ducting, but the louvers on the covering grill panel must have been quite wide, and aren’t they normally angled downwards in any case?

BM

Scots_Al

frontenac551

I've not been to Hull in the UK, though I've spent a fair bit of time in Hull, Quebec (just across from Ottawa) - does that count?

The AC duct is a possibility, but like you I thought that the slots were small and angled (to avoid things falling through). According to the post, the airline told the daughter that they will try to find the phone and, if successful, will give it back when she travels back through the city on her way home. If actually in the AC or hull (not Hull), seems highly unlikely that she'll get anything back.

tmiw

Considering that there have been fires because of lithium batteries, wouldn't they need to get the phone back by whatever means (even including putting the aircraft out of service and taking it apart)?

DragonSoul

Is this the story the daughter told the parent (possibly to cover just plain losing the phone)? Or was the parent there and confirms this happened?

Allan38103

Read the first post. "Someone" posted on "another board" about the missing phone. That's verification enough for me. Why do you have to be so skeptical?

JumboJet

Maybe because half the stuff you hear these days is fake news, I also have several kids and grandkids they will say anything

frontenac551

Unlikely a lie as the daughter is an adult. I don't doubt that that is what the daughter was told (or, at least , what she understood to have been told), just seems weird and not something I've heard of before.

skywardhunter

Hull most likely means the innards of the seat or maybe some flap/compartment in the cabin, not the actual physical hull of the aircraft (which isn't actually hollow, though I suppose the interior padding/walls create a cavity

frontenac551

Would it have been better if I said "merlib" on the "DISboards" (a board mainly about Walt Disney World)? Didn't seem relevant. As noted above, I don't think either the poster or her daughter are lying. Possibly misunderstood, but not lying. Just seemed like an unusual situation and not one I'd seen before and was curious. And FlyerTalk is good for random airplane related questions (among other things).

pinniped

Maybe some type of smaller unpressurized aircraft?

I took a flight in the back of a C-130 once (ok, that's not small), but you probably could've lost something in the hull of that if you really tried.

I'm grasping here. A thought experiment assuming the daughter's story isn't total BS...

DenverBrian

Interesting to note that United has announcements now specifically calling out to the effect that if you drop your phone between seats, to call the FA and not try to retrieve it yourself, as doing so "may damage the phone or its battery."