A pair of AirPods became the focus of an international mystery after Formula 1 driver Louis Delétraz left them on a United Airlines flight. Delétraz said he placed the Airpods under his seat in row 16 on a flight to Geneva, Switzerland, and tracked them as they flew around the world. But when they stopped at a residential building, Deletraz realized a conspiracy was afoot. Now, United tells Gizmodo it has launched an investigation.
Delétraz posted about the issue on X/Twitter on Monday and tagged United. “My adorable AirPods fell under the seat and since then I’ve been flying every day between the US and Europe, stopping in Paris, and currently in the mid-Atlantic,” Delétraz wrote. “As much as I’m sure they enjoyed your business class, I miss them and would be happy if you could get them back.”
The official United X account responded, asking Delétraz if he had filed a “missing on board” report and offering to help. But a day later, the headphones are still hanging in the air. “Update: Zurich this morning, now in Canada @united HELP,” Delétraz release.
The post has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times so far, with fans and X users offering theories and suggestions. “Anyone else questioning the cleanliness of this plane? Like at some point one would think someone would need to vacuum through there to find these AirPods,” one user wrote. “Your AirPods are on a hell of a world tour,” said another. Delétraz did not respond to a request for comment.
On Wednesday, the tone shifted. AirPods no longer fly. Delétraz posted a screenshot of his iPhone’s Find My app, showing they somehow arrived at an apartment building on North Kedzie Avenue in Chicago. “It looks like someone found them and stole them,” Delétraz explain. He wrote that he had seen AirPods driving up and down the highway, suggesting the AirPods weren’t just stuck on planes flying across the country.
It seemed like a lost cause, but suddenly, the headphones are back at the airport. Deletraz even knew exactly what flight they were on—or so he thought.
“It’s not over yet!!! It seems the crew stole the AirPods. It left uptown and returned to Chicago O’Hare Airport,” he Tweet. “Located at gate M14, this flight had just departed for Panama, flight number UA7173. This was a Copa Airlines aircraft operated by United Airlines. AirPods remain hijacked.”
But on day four of the saga, AirPods are back in Illinois. “Not sure if they went to Panama, but they came back to the thieves’ home in Chicago.” Delétraz wrote. At this point, the post seemed to have attracted enough attention that United’s corporate office got involved.
Delétraz wrote that United had called him to let him know they were working on the case, which a United spokesperson confirmed in an email to Gizmodo.
“Our team is working directly with the customer to understand the details of the situation,” a United Media Relations employee said. “That’s all we have to share.”
According to Delétraz, United is working to find out who lives in the apartment building because the Find My app was able to provide him with an exact address. For now, the mystery continues. We will come back with updates as events develop.