Here's my theory. Because the case flew off at 70 miles an hour, it is likely that it's vertical drop was buffered by the air current. In other words, the flat

Here's my theory. Because the case flew off at 70 miles an hour, it is likely that it's vertical drop was buffered by the air current. In other words, the flat side facing into the wind gave it just enough lift so that it could come down slow enough to prevent breakage. Then once it was on the ground, it was home-free so long as it could stay flat as it skidded to a halt. The case, at this point, absorbed all the friction. That was lucky. If it had come down on the corner or something, the case could easily have shattered (splintered?), and the thing would have been toast for sure, pinwheeling itself into oblivion on a hard asphalt road.