Rescuers in Pennsylvania have located a plane crash and the father and daughter riding it through the iPad of one of the survivors.
In relation to this, it is worth noting that there is a possibility that the Find My app installed on an Apple devices might be the app used by rescuers.
iPad Signal Helps Rescuer Locate the Plane Crash Survivors
According to Pennsylvania State Police, a plane traveling from Wilkes-Barre Scranton International Airport in Pittston Township, Pennsylvania went missing on their radar shortly after takeoff, per CNN. The authorities added that the sole passengers inside the two-seat, single-engine Cessna 150 were the father who piloted the plane, a 58-year-old male, and his daughter, a 13-year-old girl.
A five-hour general investigation was conducted in collaboration with the US Air Force Rescue Coordination Center. Shortly after, the plane, as well as its passengers, were discovered in a heavily wooded location seven miles southeast of Wilkes-Barre Scranton International Airport.
Since it is a densely forested area, Chief James Serafin with the Bear Creek Volunteer Hose Company told CNN that from what he has seen and heard, locating the survivors was difficult especially in the area where the airplane crashed.
"They had to go through trees and everything else. It definitely was a miracle," Chief Serafin furthered on CNN.
With regards to how they were rescued, the rescuers relied first on the last known location, and approximately 30 other individuals began a grid search in the woods, though the rescue operation came up short, per 9to5Mac.
Serafin furthered that once the pilot was identified, rescue teams contacted the pilot's wife, who had been waiting for her husband and daughter at their destination. Through this conversation, authorities have acquired the pilot's mobile phone number, in which authorities used it to ping the survivors' location.
"They (rescue team) were able to ping the cell phone and they found out that the daughter had an iPad and with certain iPads, you're able to ping signals to it and once we got that coordinate, that's where we located them," Serafin explained.
In addition to this, Sgt. John Richards, with the Pennsylvania State Police, stated in an interview with News Nation Now that he believed that every responder was expecting the plane crash incident to be a recovery rather than a rescue, per People. Moreover, he was even more surprised when he discovered that the survivors were still alive.
The two were discovered in a pre-hypothermic state, as they were huddled together trying to keep warm. They also sustained minor injuries.
The Federal Aviation Administration is currently examining the crash, but no further information is available, per 9to5Mac.
How Can an iPad Help Locate a Person?
According to the blog post posted by the Cupertino-based technology company, Apple device owners can locate a missing device by using the Find My app. The feature enables them to view location, play a sound, mark as lost, remote erase, notify when found, and notify when left behind.
In the case of the plane crash incident, it is worth noting that there is a possibility that rescuers utilize the view location feature, in which they can access the location through the installed map on the daughter's iPad.
For those curious to know how it works, these are the following steps that Apple device owners must use to locate someone through the Find My app.
- Head to the "Find My" app option on the home screen.
- Once the Find My app was tapped, choose the device they wish to locate.
- Right after, select the gadget to view their location.
- Lastly, choose directions to open its location in Maps.
