AP

A Durban man has praised the quick response of the police and the iCloud service for Apple products which led to the speedy recovery of his missing iPad this week.

Hennie Stander, a sales manager, boarded a Mango Airlines plane in Durban and flew to Cape Town for a business meeting on Monday.

He said he had taken his iPad and briefcase as hand luggage.

“I used my iPad while I was on the plane. I was going to be late for my meeting and, in the rush of departing the plane, I forgot my iPad in a compartment in front of my seat,” he said.

When he realised that he had left his iPad on the plane, Stander contacted Mango officials, who said that the plane had flown back to Durban.

Mango staff are required to hand over any belongings passengers leave behind. However, Stander said staff told him that nothing had been found on the plane.

“I then decided to log on to my laptop and the iCloud service (which links Apple products with one another), and found that my iPad was still in the vicinity of the airport,” he said.

“I was then told by Mango staff to alert the police at Cape Town International Airport, who were very helpful. I showed them where the iPad was on the iCloud service, and we saw the dot moving across the road into town. Six policemen drove me in one of two vehicles to find the iPad,” he said.

Stander said the police found two men walking along the road and asked to search their bags, and the iPad was found. The men, a driver for an aircraft catering company and a cleaner, were arrested.