Couple escape unharmed as aircraft ice crashes into their house

Chichester - A couple from West Sussex, England, UK had a lucky escape last night as a block of ice, which apparently fell from an aircraft, crashed through the roof of their home into their guest bedroom.

The block of ice crashed through their roof at about 0200 this morning and left a gaping hole of 2ft (0.6m) in their roof. The home owners, Vince Foot and his wife, were asleep in their bedroom at their house in Summerdale Court, Chichester as the ice crashed into their guest room. Mr Foot and his wife, who are both in shock after this incident, say they feel they've had a lucky escape especially considering that the guest bedroom is often occupied by their grandchildren. Mr Foot said, "I thought at first it was thunder and I got up to investigate. I tried to open the spare bedroom door and it wouldn't move. When I forced it open I couldn't believe what I was seeing. There was an enormous hole in both the roof and bedroom ceiling and there were great chunks of ice everywhere." He then added, "It is a such a freak accident, but it could have been so much worse." The incident caused debris to be scattered over an area of 30ft (9.1m). A Civil Aviation Authority spokesperson explained that a build up of ice occurs in the seals of the exterior pipes where water is pumped into the aircraft. Due to water seeping out at high altitude ice then forms and grows until the plane enters warmer air. The spokesperson was keen to point out that such incidents as this are rare as the chunks of ice usually dissipate into the atmosphere. Usually there are only about 30 such incidents reported per year.