A Sask. artist's phone fell 1.1 km from a plane. They found it in a canola field in 'pristine' condition

A Sask. artist's phone fell 1.1 km from a plane. They found it in a canola field in 'pristine' condition

Artist Heather Cline uses her iPhone to capture still images as her husband pilots a small plane

A Regina artist is thankful her phone survived after being sucked out of a plane and falling more than a kilometre to the ground below.

Heather Cline says she couldn't believe they were able to successfully track the iPhone to a canola field, and was even more surprised when they discovered it intact and undamaged — despite not being in a case.

"I think it's going to be like buried in the dirt, smashed," Cline said in an interview. "I literally looked at the phone, sitting there face up, just up against a few strands of canola. It's pristine."

Cline uses the iPhone to capture images from the back seat of the Cessna Skyhawk, a four-seater plane, as her husband, David Stanchuk pilots.

She then used those photos and videos as references for aerial paintings.

She's been using the method ever since Stanchuk got his pilot licence.

Stanchuk said he always wanted to be an astronaut and began flying as an air cadet. It wasn't until almost a decade ago that he finally got his flight certification.

"It's just for fun and it's a bonus that the first time I took her up, she was just gobsmacked by the views. It's changed her art practice completely," Stanchuk said.

Cline said the birds-eye view has allowed her to observe the grid-like system of the Saskatchewan prairie, and the collision between cultivated and natural land.

As a full-time working artist, Cline said the iPhone was a "pretty big investment" when she purchased it last month to replace her aging phone and failing digital camera. She even purchased a grip that would help the iPhone feel like a conventional camera.

Friday was a "great day for flying," Cline said, but the grip had yet to arrive in the mail. Instead, she used a small lapel case.

The couple had been in the air for roughly 30 minutes, and were circling wind turbines at an altitude of 1.1 kilometres at speeds in excess of 100 km/h, when things went wrong.

"We have a photographic window and the air stream sucked the phone right out of the case," Cline said.

"I literally was not believing at first, like, that I could have done this. And then he's just looking at me and he's like, 'I told you not to drop the phone.'"

Cline immediately activated the Find My iPhone tool on her Apple Watch, but had little hope they would be able to track down anything salvageable. Stanchuk said he circled the area a couple of times to make sure they had a good GPS location of where the phone was.

Then they headed home, got in a truck and headed out to begin the search.

Cline can't help but laugh when asked about what went through her head as travelled toward the phone.

"I was just sick. I was like, 'can you even get insurance for dropping your phone out of a plane?' Like, what do you say on the claim? 'I'm an idiot?'" Cline said.

The couple travelled nearly 100 kilometres east of Regina to an area near Wolseley, Sask., trying to get as close as possible to the fallen phone.

They travelled on grids roads, trails and, eventually, in a canola field on foot. It was there they found the phone undamaged, still capable of recording videos and photographs.

Cline said she doesn't plan to stop her flights, but may take more drastic measures to ensure it's secure.

"Maybe we'll cable-tie it to my hand," Cline said.

Alexander Quon is the provincial affairs reporter for CBC Saskatchewan. He has been a reporter with CBC Saskatchewan since 2021 and is happy to be working in his hometown of Regina after half a decade in Atlantic Canada. He has previously worked with the CBC News investigative unit in Nova Scotia and Global News in Halifax. Alexander specializes in freedom of information requests and data reporting. He can be reached at: alexander.quon@cbc.ca.