Emergency SOS via Satellite Saves Students Trapped in Utah Canyon

The iPhone 14's Emergency SOS via Satellite feature last week saved a trio of students who went canyoneering in Utah and got stuck in an area with no cellular signal. Introduced last September, Emergency SOS via Satellite is designed to let ‌iPhone 14‌ users access satellite communications to get help in emergency situations.

Emergency SOS via Satellite iPhone YT
The students who were involved spoke to Utah's KUTV and described their dangerous ordeal. One of the students, Bridger Woods, said that the three had heard about a "pretty cool canyon" that they decided to check out because they had been canyoneering for approximately a year.

Inside the canyon, they encountered an area that had unexpectedly deep water, potentially caused by a wet winter in Utah. Woods and another student, Jeremy Mumford, were stuck in the pool for over an hour, but they ultimately were able to get out and continue deeper. They encountered another pool where the water was chest deep, and they could not get out.

Two of the students were experiencing symptoms of hypothermia, and because of the location of the canyon, there was no cellular signal, but the third student, Stephen Watts, had an ‌iPhone 14‌. According to Mumford, every 20 minutes, a "satellite would line up" to their location, and holding the phone up, they were able to get enough satellite signal to text 911.

While waiting for emergency services, the trio were able to leverage themselves out of the deep pool using rope and carabiners. With Woods going into hypothermic shock, they were still unable to get out of the 10 to 15 foot hole that they were in. Instead, they located driftwood and began a fire to warm up while emergency crews came to their rescue.

A helicopter crew from Salt Lake City arrived, as did paramedics from Arizona, and all three students were ultimately unharmed. The group told KUTV that they recommend taking a satellite phone on adventures in case of an emergency situation.

Emergency SOS via Satellite has already been used in several other life-threatening situations, including when an Alaskan man was stranded in the wilderness and when people were involved in a serious crash in the Angeles National Forest in California.

Emergency Satellite via SOS is available to all ‌‌iPhone 14‌‌ users in select countries, and it can be activated when an emergency situation occurs and there is no WiFi or cellular connection available. The feature is free to use for two years, and Apple has not yet provided detail on how much it will cost going forward.

Popular Stories

oppo find n5 fingers

World's Thinnest Foldable Phone Launches Next Week

Monday February 10, 2025 3:05 am PST by
Oppo has confirmed a February 20 global launch for its Find N5, which the company claims is the world's thinnest device in the foldable phone category. The phone is expected to be re-branded as the OnePlus Open 2 in the US. The Chinese vendor has been teasing the device in the last few weeks, touting its waterproofing and nearly invisible display crease, and highlighting its thinness by compa...
2007 iPhone

Apple Discontinuing This 18-Year-Old iPhone Feature

Saturday February 8, 2025 3:51 pm PST by
The end of an 18-year era is on the horizon for the iPhone. Apple reportedly plans to announce a new iPhone SE as soon as next week, and the device is expected to feature a full-screen design with Face ID, instead of a Touch ID home button. That means Apple will no longer sell any new iPhone models with a home button, for the first time since the original iPhone launched. The home button...
m2 macbook air blue

M4 MacBook Air Release Continues to Appear Imminent

Monday February 10, 2025 10:56 am PST by
There continue to be signs of a new MacBook Air with an M4 chip, indicating that we could see the machine launch in the not too distant future. A private account on X today shared the identifiers that the MacBook Air will use, and those identifiers correspond to the M4 chip. According to the source, both the 13-inch MacBook Air and the 15-inch MacBook Air will be equipped with Apple's...
sequoia

Apple Releases macOS Sequoia 15.3.1

Monday February 10, 2025 10:11 am PST by
Apple today released macOS Sequoia 15.3.1, a minor update to the macOS Sequoia operating system that came out last September. macOS 15.3.1 comes a few weeks after the launch of macOS Sequoia 15.3. Mac users can download the ‌‌‌macOS Sequoia‌‌‌ update through the Software Update section of System Settings. Apple has also released macOS 13.7.4 and macOS 14.7.4 for those who are...
watchOS 11 Thumb 2 1

Apple Releases watchOS 11.3.1

Monday February 10, 2025 10:04 am PST by
Apple today released watchOS 11.3.1, a minor update to the operating system that runs on the Apple Watch. watchOS 11.3.1 is compatible with the Apple Watch Series 6 and later, all Apple Watch Ultra models, and the Apple Watch SE 2. watchOS 11.3.1 can be downloaded by opening up the Apple Watch app and going to General > Software Update. To install the new software, the Apple Watch needs to...
Powerbeats Pro 2 Orange

Powerbeats Pro 2 Given to Customer Early, Expected to Debut Tomorrow

Monday February 10, 2025 7:42 am PST by
Apple's long-awaited Powerbeats Pro 2 are finally expected to be announced this Tuesday. Ahead of time, one lucky Walmart customer was able to get their hands on the earbuds early, according to a since-deleted Reddit post over the weekend. A leaked image of the Powerbeats Pro 2 in Electric Orange "My local Walmart had them in the cage," the Reddit user explained. "I asked if I can buy them...
iOS 18

Apple Releases iOS 18.3.1 With Bug Fixes

Monday February 10, 2025 10:09 am PST by
Apple today released iOS 18.3.1 and iPadOS 18.3.1, minor updates for the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating systems that came out last September. iOS 18.3.1 comes two weeks after Apple released iOS 18.3. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. Apple has also released iPadOS 17.7.5 for those still running...
apple silicon mac lineup 2024 feature purple

Apple Increases Mac Trade-In Values for a Limited Time

Sunday February 9, 2025 3:53 pm PST by
Apple today increased its estimated trade-in values for select Mac models in the United States, with the full changes outlined below. Apple says the extra trade-in credit for select Macs is available with the purchase of an eligible new Apple device through April 2. The trade-in values increased by between $10 and $50. Model New Value Old Value MacBook Pro Up to $925 ...
pixelmator pro apple acquisition complete

Apple Completes Pixelmator Acquisition

Tuesday February 11, 2025 9:34 am PST by
Pixelmator last year announced that it was being acquired by Apple, and today the company confirmed that the acquisition has been completed after Apple received regulatory approval. The Pixelmator for iOS, Pixelmator Pro, and Photomator apps were today updated with a new splash screen announcing the deal. Pixelmator is a well-known image and photo editing app that competes with Photoshop and ...

Top Rated Comments

Paddle1 Avatar
24 months ago

Fantastic! Well worth 1000's of false alarms if it results in lives saved...unless of course the resources for those false alarms are causing other people to die to the first responders being tied up. Seems Apple doing a good job of improving these services.
This feature doesn't have the false alarm problem, that's Crash Detection.
Score: 44 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MallardDuck Avatar
24 months ago
Got stuck for over an hour then continued on...

iPhone 14 defeats Darwin.
Score: 42 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
24 months ago
Wow! That's amazing! Literally a life-saving feature. Apple doesn't get enough credit for this.
Score: 36 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sw1tcher Avatar
24 months ago

Inside the canyon, they encountered an area that had unexpectedly deep water, potentially caused by a wet winter in Utah. Woods and another student, Jeremy Mumford, were stuck in the pool for over an hour, but they ultimately were able to get out and continue deeper. They encountered another pool where the water was chest deep, and they could not get out.
?‍♂️ I guess getting stuck the first time for over an hour wasn't enough of a warning that they shouldn't be there.

"Hey, we've got an iPhone 14 with Emergency SOS via Satellite. Let's take another big risk and go even deeper into the canyon"
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
coffeemilktea Avatar
24 months ago

One of the students, Bridger Woods, said that the three had heard about a "pretty cool canyon" that they decided to check out because they had been canyoneering for approximately a year.
Now if only phones came with a high-tech feature to prevent making questionable choices. :p
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dmr727 Avatar
24 months ago
Glad to hear everyone is safe!
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)