Couple survive after their car fell 300ft into a canyon due to little known iPhone feature

A couple are raising awareness of a new iPhone feature that helped get them rescued after a horrific accident.

On Tuesday, 13 December, Christian Zelada and Cloe Fields were involved in a serious car crash.

Falling down a whopping 300ft drop down a canyon, the pair ended up isolated and away from the highway.

Despite Fields' iPhone being shattered in the crash, it still detected the pair's fall and triggered a new feature created by Apple which resulted in the couple being able to contact emergency services.

Zelada and Fields had been driving in an area of California they know well.

Fields told Insider: "Angeles Crest is our backyard. We love driving up there. It's beautiful, especially after the rain."

Clo Fields

However, when the pair were driving along, they say a car came up behind them and began honking its horn - aggressively trying to overtake.

As they moved out the way, the pair lost control of the vehicle and it went off the edge of the cliff.

Fields recalled being on the road one minute and then 'the next thing we know, we were falling'.

Los Angeles Sheriff's Department

Miraculously, despite the car having fallen 300ft and landed on its roof, Fields and Zelada survived the fall.

The couple were able to get themselves out of the vehicle and discovered Fields' phone.

Despite looking like it had taken 'a bullet', Fields phone had still detected the pair's fall and offered the option of calling emergency services - part of a new Emergency SOS via satellite feature designed by Apple.

Apple

As per Apple's website the Emergency SOS via satellite feature 'can help you connect with the emergency services under exceptional circumstances when no other means of reaching the emergency services are available'.

It continues: "If you call or text the emergency services and can't connect because you're outside the range of mobile and Wi-Fi coverage, your iPhone will try to connect you via satellite to the help you need.

"When you use a satellite connection, the experience is different than sending or receiving a message via mobile connection.

"Connection times can also be impacted by your surroundings, the length of your message, and the status and availability of the satellite network.

"Emergency SOS via satellite is free for two years after the activation of iPhone 14 or iPhone 14 Pro."

Los Angeles Sheriff's Department

With the help of the feature - which Fields hadn't even previously realised she had on her device - the pair were able to text authorities and were airlifted out of the canyon within 30 minutes of the crash.

The pair are reported as being miraculously OK given the severity of the accident - Zelada suffering from a potential concussion and both with a bit of neck pain and headaches.

Fields resolved: "If we didn't find my phone or no one knew we were down there, it could've been a lot worse."

Topics: iPhone, Technology, Phones, Health, US News

Poppy Bilderbeck

Poppy Bilderbeck is a Senior Journalist at LADbible Group. She graduated from The University of Manchester in 2021 with a First in English Literature and Drama, where alongside her studies she was Editor-in-Chief of The Tab Manchester. Poppy is most comfortable when chatting about all things mental health, is proving a drama degree is far from useless by watching and reviewing as many TV shows and films as possible and is such a crisp fanatic the office has been forced to release them in batches.