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Man hit by falling ice from plane

by Sean McLachlan (RSS feed) on Jul 9th 2009 at 11:30AM

There have got to be better ways to get in the news.

David Gammon was relaxing in his garden near Bristol International Airport in England earlier this week when a plane flew overhead. The 76 year-old pensioner heard a whistling sound and got smacked in the thigh by a piece of ice the size of a grapefruit. He suffered a serious bruise that you can see on this video.

Authorities are investigating but the airport was quick to point out that there was no proof the ice fell off a plane using Bristol International. Afraid of getting sued, are we? They claim that ice falling from high-flying planes can land up to five miles away from the aircraft, meaning a plane going to Heathrow or a flight passing by to another destination could have been the culprit.

Assuming this little factoid is true, paranoids now having something new to worry about. With so many flight paths crisscrossing the sky, almost nobody is safe.

Tough luck, Mr. Gammon. Good thing it didn't hit your head.

Filed under: Europe, United Kingdom, Airlines

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