Ice Boulder Crashes Through Whittier Roof as FAA Probes Likely Plane Leak

3 articles · Updated · The Weather Channel · Aug 22

Whittier, California, saw a foul-smelling block of ice punch through a home's roof at about 11:15 a.m. on April 10, landing on a couch and narrowly missing the resident.
The FAA was called to investigate because the house sits under the LAX approach, and the report says the chunk likely formed from leaking aircraft water that froze at altitude and fell off during descent.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn said the resident was fortunate not to be in the living room when the ice crashed through the ceiling.
Scientists say not all such 'ice bombs' come from planes: a 2006 study found some megacryometeors form in the atmosphere, and a 2025 Florida case was ruled out as aircraft-related by the FAA.
Dozens of these giant ice falls are reported worldwide each year, and some have been documented for more than 200 years, underscoring the difficulty of predicting their source.