It's Raining Ice

By Amy Perry in News on Nov 5, 2009 8:00PM

At least on one home in the north center of Chicago. Last night at about 7:52 p.m. a large of chunk of ice fell onto the roof of a house on the 4200 block of N. Wolcott Ave while the family was inside watching TV. They said they heard a loud thud that shook the house like an earthquake. The family collected the balls of ice into a plastic bag and believes a large chuck on ice fell from the sky, hitting the roof and exploded into smaller pieces.

The home is located in a flight path for planes using O'Hare International Airport, but the family does not know if an aircraft had anything to do with the ice. According to the Chicago Tribune, the Federal Aviation Administration plans to investigate if any planes coming into O'Hare leaked water. A spokesman for the FAA said it's possible a plane collected moisture from flying through a damp cloud and that moisture froze into the chunk of ice which then dislodged from the plane when it descended into warmer air.

A similar story happened back in September when a large chunk of ice the size of a bowling ball fell through the roof of Gerald Young's west side Detroit home.

Apparently, the FAA has dealt with complaints for decades about "blue ice" falling from airplanes over the city, particularly in O'Hare and Midway Airport flight paths, stated WBBM. It reports that it results from a blue chemical in aircraft lavatory tanks that occasionally leaks out and freezes in midair. TV shows such as Six Feet Under and CSI aired episodes where bystanders were hit by blue ice falling from a plane and of course, there is even a website devoted to mysterious ice falling. The ice last night wasn't blue but according to Richard Taylor, of the Civil Aviation Authority, any water that leaks from the plane will freeze. For now, the falling ice remains an unsolved case.