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BRUSH, Colo. - The Federal Aviation Administration is looking into a series of incidents involving basketball-sized ice 'bombs' falling from the sky.
While the feds say it's not likely that the projectiles could come from waste being flushed out of commercial airliners, they are tracking where the ice fell and what -if any- planes might have been flying over those areas.
"We are using radar to try to see if any aircraft could have been responsible for generating the so-called "blue ice" that hit earlier this month in Chicago and then again in Brush, Colorado," said Mike Franges, media spokesman for the FAA, Northwest Region. "We think it's just normal water that collects on forward wings or water that is leaked from drinking sources on planes. It is not common practice for planes to dump waste from lavatories on planes."
But many pilots contacted us to say the blue ice found on outsides of planes when they do 'walk-arounds' prior to flights come from the blue fluid used in airline lavatories.
In Brush, Colorado, Danielle Hagan said the basketball-sized ice bomb all but destroyed her home, while she and her daughter were watching a movie.
"I thought it was a bomb or an explosion like with natural gas or something," Hagan said. "My rafters were shattered, my roof was blown in. All of the damage came from above, and because there was asbestos inside the attic, now my daughter and I have been forced out of our home."
The FAA says on any given day, in any given hour, there are between four and six thousand aircraft in the air over the lower 48 states. While anything is possible, it is very unlikely blue ice could be falling out of bathrooms on planes.
Still, a Chicago couple, Linda and Dave Dowd say they too had a plane, or something else in the sky drop an icy bomb on their home.
"We were watching TV and this huge blast hit the house. We thought it was the L-Train leaving the track. Our house is jacked up," said Dave Dowd. "We are just glad that our homeowners insurance is going to take care of the damages."
The Rocky Mountain Insurance Association says most homeowners policies should cover damages caused by sky-spawned ice bombs.
While the feds say it's not likely that the projectiles could come from waste being flushed out of commercial airliners, they are tracking where the ice fell and what -if any- planes might have been flying over those areas.
"We are using radar to try to see if any aircraft could have been responsible for generating the so-called "blue ice" that hit earlier this month in Chicago and then again in Brush, Colorado," said Mike Franges, media spokesman for the FAA, Northwest Region. "We think it's just normal water that collects on forward wings or water that is leaked from drinking sources on planes. It is not common practice for planes to dump waste from lavatories on planes."
But many pilots contacted us to say the blue ice found on outsides of planes when they do 'walk-arounds' prior to flights come from the blue fluid used in airline lavatories.
In Brush, Colorado, Danielle Hagan said the basketball-sized ice bomb all but destroyed her home, while she and her daughter were watching a movie.
"I thought it was a bomb or an explosion like with natural gas or something," Hagan said. "My rafters were shattered, my roof was blown in. All of the damage came from above, and because there was asbestos inside the attic, now my daughter and I have been forced out of our home."
The FAA says on any given day, in any given hour, there are between four and six thousand aircraft in the air over the lower 48 states. While anything is possible, it is very unlikely blue ice could be falling out of bathrooms on planes.
Still, a Chicago couple, Linda and Dave Dowd say they too had a plane, or something else in the sky drop an icy bomb on their home.
"We were watching TV and this huge blast hit the house. We thought it was the L-Train leaving the track. Our house is jacked up," said Dave Dowd. "We are just glad that our homeowners insurance is going to take care of the damages."
The Rocky Mountain Insurance Association says most homeowners policies should cover damages caused by sky-spawned ice bombs.
