Huge block of ice falls from plane, smashing through roof of Banbury home

It is thought the ice fell from a plane. The damage to Dr Carla George’s home is estimated at £12,000.

Dr George, 45, was on a work call when she heard the massive bang. When she went to investigate she realised she could see blue sky through the roof - and found a large block of ice on the floor.

Dr George, a field researcher in criminology who recently completed a PhD, called the fire brigade who told her it was likely to have been caused by ice falling from a plane on its way into Heathrow.

Dr George said: "I was working in my office room and I heard a loud bang. The room is used for storage and I thought it was boxes falling 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 about 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?'. I thought it was some sort of explosion when I got up there."

Despite being told the most probable cause of the damage was falling debris from a plane, Dr George says she didn't hear anything that day.

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 he used to work on planes and a suitcase once fell out."

Although temporarily covered over with a tarpaulin sheet, Dr George'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; it didn't hit any other rooms and there were no injuries - just me being shocked and trying to process the whole thing."

Oxfordshire firefighters confirmed they were called to Dr Carla's home. 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.

Capt John Hutchinson, 86, is a retired Concorde pilot and aviation expert. “You don't flush toilets overboard so to speak, so it won't be from a loo,” he said.

"The most likely scenario is water in the undercarriage bay when the aircraft took off forming ice and staying as ice while cruising at 35,000ft.

"And as the airplane comes into land at 3,000-4,000ft, the undercarriage would be selected down and it would fall out.”

The incident happened last month.