Halfway between Jakarta and Melbourne, business traveler Michael Tjendara slid his iPhone into the seat-back pocket of Garuda Indonesia flight GA716, then moved a few rows to stretch out. Three hours later the jet touched down, the cabin lights snapped on… and the phone was gone.
What looked like a routine case of lost property has spiraled into a public-relations storm that grounded an entire cabin crew, triggered two police probes, and reminded flyers everywhere that a seat pocket is the last place to trust valuables.