Early on Monday, November 15, 2021, a father and daughter were found in Pennsylvania woods, thanks to an iPad and a phone.

On Sunday, the 14th, 58-year-old father and 13- year-old daughter had left on a two-seat single-engine Cessna 150 from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport in Pennsylvania. Soon after the plane had taken off, it went missing from airport surveillance radar. The wife and mother of the passengers contacted 911 after not hearing from them. This prompted a rescue search for the aircraft and its potential survivors.  Rescuers were able to ping the personal devices of the father and daughter and grid search in the heavily wooded area where the plane had crashed. 

Temperatures had dropped to 37 degrees and at around 2 am on Monday, rescue teams had found the father and daughter in a pre-hypothermic state, huddling to stay warm.  Chief James Serafin of Bear Creek Volunteer Hose Company, a volunteer fire department, said, “From what I hear and see, you don’t hear of survivors, especially in the area that they crashed; it’s very heavily wooded.” The two had been transported to a nearby hospital to get treated for the injuries they suffered. Major Andrew Scott, an Air Force Rescue Coordination Center spokesperson, said that radars and personal devices such as cell phones provide a “unique capability” when it comes to search and rescue. The aircraft is under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration.

It’s a happy ending for the father and daughter, and a hopeful recovery is in sight.