AirPods only connect when in the case

Hello, Texancowboy,

It might not be a software or charging problem at this point. I think that the antenna may have been damaged or some other type of circuitry when they fell. That I can't help but you can contact apple by scrolling up to the top right of this page and clicking contact support.

Make sure your AirPods are charged, Bluetooth is turned on for the device you want to connect them to, and reset the device before trying again. If none of those steps work, you should un-pair your AirPods from your device, reset the AirPods, and try to reconnect them.