Originally Posted by
peekay4
Consider that an airplane hitting the ground at a "mere" 270 kts has an impact force of 3,400 Gs -- which is the basis for blackbox requirements.
G-force depends on the specific location inside the airplane and on materials surrounding the object. If you have enough "padding" that braking from 270 kts to zero is spread over the distance of, say, 5 meters, mean g-force over this distance is merely 200G.
As for smartphones, they are usually not designed with shock tolerance in mind. They can fail in all sorts of easily preventable ways, usually with cosmetic damage. Devices which are designed for shock tolerance (so-called "rugged" devices) can handle a lot of stuff that would leave mass-market devices in shreds. A standard test for a rugged laptop/tablet is being able to withstand a drop from 4 foot height onto plywood-covered concrete onto any edge or corner without damage.