A hike in northern Vermont turned into a massive emergency response on Monday, all because of a phone that took an unscheduled trip off a cliff. What started as a routine outing near Lake Willoughby ended with more than a dozen agencies, two drones and a helicopter scrambling to find a plane crash that never happened.
The mix-up happened near Mount Pisgah in Westmore, Vermont, when a hiker’s phone slipped out of his grip and tumbled off a cliff, reports WCAX 3. Somewhere on the way down, the device apparently decided things looked bad enough to alert emergency services that its owner had just gone down in a plane. It’s a reminder that our phones are getting awfully confident about deciding when we’re in trouble, sometimes without checking with us first.
The hiker, for what it’s worth, had no idea any of this was happening. He didn’t have cell service, so he had no clue his phone had just set off alarms across the region. Meanwhile, back at the South End Trailhead, first responders were treating it as the real deal.
By the time everybody figured out what actually happened, a genuinely impressive amount of manpower had already been mobilized. It’s the kind of story that makes you glance down at your own phone a little differently, wondering what it might decide to tell people on your behalf.
A Response Bigger Than the Emergency
Once the alert went out, agencies didn’t take any chances. Police and fire crews from more than a dozen departments headed to the trailhead. The Vermont Division of Fire and Safety and state police both brought in drones to scan the area, and an Air Guard helicopter joined the search from above.
Even the hospital in Newport was put on standby, just in case. For a phone that fell off a rock, that’s about as thorough a response as you could ask for.
How the Confusion Finally Cleared Up
The hiker eventually made his way to an area with service, in Lyndonville, and called authorities to let them know everyone was fine. There had never been a plane, never mind a crash.
Vermont State Police Sergeant Nathan Handy explained that responders had actually been in contact with some of the hiker’s own devices or resources during the search, but nobody realized the alert was coming from a phone with no idea where its owner actually was.
What This Means for the Rest of Us
Modern phones are built to detect hard falls and sudden impacts, and honestly, that feature has probably saved lives. But this one’s a good example of how a feature meant to help can occasionally cause a headache for everyone else instead.
No harm came from it this time, and the search was called off once the confusion was cleared up.
Still, it’s worth checking how sensitive your own phone’s fall detection is set to, especially if you’re the type to hike near cliffs, or just the type to drop your phone a lot.