Crime expert, 45, nearly dies after ice block falls from plane
Crime expert, 45, was nearly killed when massive block of ice fell from plane and tore a £12,000 hole in her roof
- Dr Carla George heard a massive bang while on a work call at home in Banbury
- A firefighter told her it could have come from a landing plane at Heathrow
A crime expert was nearly killed after a massive block of ice fell from a plane and tore a £12,000 hole in her roof.
Dr Carla George, 45, was on a work call at her home in Banbury, Oxon, when she heard a massive bang on Tuesday last week.
She thought some boxes must have fallen in the attic at her home but was later told it may have fallen from a landing plane in a ‘one in a million’ accident.
When she went to investigate she realised she could see blue sky – and found a large block of ice on the floor.
Dr Carla, a field researcher in criminology who recently completed a PhD, called the fire brigade.
Dr Carla George, 45, was nearly killed after a massive block of ice fell from a plane and tore a £12,000 hole in her roof
She was on a work call at her home in Banbury, Oxon, when she heard a massive bang on Tuesday last week
She claims a firefighter told her it was likely caused by ice falling from a plane on its way into Heathrow.
She has been quoted £12,000 to fix the roof, which will be covered by her home insurance.
Dr Carla, who lives alone, said: ‘I was working in my office room and I heard a loud bang.
‘It’s used as a storage room and I thought it was boxes but I saw the door open and the ceiling completely apart.
‘I went up to the attic and saw ice everywhere and I was confused where it had come from – it was like something from a movie.
‘I was in shock. My neighbour rang the doorbell and said, “Do you know there’s a hole in the roof?”. It was so unusual.
‘I thought it was some sort of explosion when I got up there.’
Despite being told that the most probable cause of the damage was falling debris from a plane, Dr Carla says she didn’t hear anything that day.
She has been quoted £12,000 to fix the roof, which will be covered by her home insurance
Dr Carla, a field researcher in criminology who recently completed a PhD, called the fire brigade
The hole is believed to have been caused by large lump of ice which fell from the sky
She said: ‘We do have planes flying over but I didn’t hear any that day and neither did my neighbour, so that was really surprising.
‘My neighbour said that he used to work on planes and a suitcase once fell out.’
Although temporarily covered over with a tarpaulin sheet, Dr Carla’s roof will need a full repair.
She said: ‘The blocks of ice took a whole day to melt and then we had the insurers come round.
‘The roofers put in a temporary fix the next day and we are waiting for surveyors to asses the damage and see what can be done for the restoration work.
‘At the moment we still have the hole in the inner ceiling – you can see the lining from the outside.
‘At least it’s all covered by the insurance.
‘And at least it didn’t hit any other rooms and there were no injuries – just me being shocked and trying to process the whole thing!’
Damage and debris on the carpet after the ice block tore a massive hole in her roof
Huge pieces of plaster fell down from the ceiling and the hole has been temporarily been covered by a tarpaulin
Carla has been quoted £12,000 to fix the roof, which will be covered by her home insurance
Oxfordshire firefighters confirmed they were called to Dr Carla’s home last week.
They said the hole is believed to have been caused by large lump of ice which fell from the sky.
The Civil Aviation Authority said 25 ‘ice fall’ incidents are reported every year from 2.5million flights.
Captain John Hutchinson, 86, is a retired Concorde pilot and aviation expert.
He said of the possibility the damage was caused by an ice fall: ‘It’s not the first time it’s happened, that’s for sure.
‘As to why the ice falls – well you don’t flush toilets overboard so to speak, so it won’t be from a loo.
‘To me the most likely scenario is water in the undercarriage bay when the aircraft took off which formed into ice and would stay as a block of ice whilst cruising at 35,000ft.
‘And as the airplane came into land at 3,000 or 4,000ft, the undercarriage would be selected down and it would fall out – that would be one solution.
‘It’s certainly possible that it would have been caused by a block of ice that fell off an airplane.’
John flew planes from 1955 to 1992.
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