Lost your phone on a flight? Why you might never get it back

Losing your phone can be a stressful situation, regardless of where. What are the chances of getting your phone back? Well, in the case of flights, the chances are close to zero, suggests a survey from Consumer watchdog Which?
To test if the airlines would return the lost property diligently, in this case, the phones, the Which? team set out on a journey. Their team members deliberately left behind their iPhones in seat pockets or behind the tray tables of four airlines:

British Airways

, easyJet, Jet2, and Ryanair.
All the phones had Apple's

Find My Phone tracking

system in place, so they could monitor, the airline's efforts. Also, each phone displayed a message on the screen that read, ‘This phone is lost’ and provided a number to call.
The results?

Three days after leaving the first phone on British Airways from Cyprus to London Heathrow, the Find My Phone feature said that it was turned up at a cottage near Winsdor.
British Airways, like other airlines, has outsourced its lost property handling to a thir party. The Which? team was unable to connect to anyone who 'cared enough to help' them in the crucial first hours.
From the BA website, they were directed to Heathrow’s lost property handler Smarte Carte. This facility had a list of 36 iPhones lost at Heathrow. But this was only one hour after they lost the phone and they were sure that this facility couldn't have received it. The next day, however, the phone's location was in a cottage near Windsor, which is 14 miles away from Heathrow.
The team thought the phone's battery must have died. Or was it stolen? But as they had set the account 'lost', it is of no use to anyone. However, there are reports of the parts being sent abroad.
When they connected to BA yet again, the airlines asked to speak to Smarte Carte, but the latter said they never received the phone.
According to the team, the airlines later said, "Our crews remind customers upon arrival at their destination to check they have all their belongings before leaving the aircraft. In the unlikely event that belongings are left behind, we follow a process managed by Heathrow Airport and their third-party supplier, Smarte Carte, like other airlines at the airport."

Upon reporting to the police, they visited the cottage, but couldn't find it.
(Pic courtesy: iStock)