One of my coworkers is afraid of flying. His fear of flying is deep-rooted and I don't want to embarrass him, so I'll only mention that his initials are Bob Graf.
Anyway, I now have reason to believe that Bob is at a greater risk by sitting at his desk or sleeping in his bed than he is on an aircraft. There have been several cases in the news of large chunks of ice falling from the sky. Although scientists and federal investigators are investigating these incidents, they don't have a definite cause yet.
The San Francisco Chronicle SFGate.com reports that for the second time in a week, California was the victim of an aerial ice assault. The latest one was last Thursday when a chunk of ice the size of a microwave oven fell out of a cloudless sky into a Loma Linda recreation center. It left a hole about 2 1/2 feet wide and fragmented into several white ice chunks, one the size of a bowling ball. In another incident, an ice chunk fell into a field in Oakland, carving out a two foot wide crater. Luckily, neither incident resulted in an injury.
These ice incidents seem to be creating a bit of controversy. Some attribute them to aircraft. Maybe leaks in the servicing ports or chunks of ice missed by de-icing equipment. Others blame global warming on the phenomenon, thinking greater difference in atmospheric temperatures are creating super hail formation in otherwise clear skies.
You can read the San Francisco Chronicle article by clicking here . In addition, I found an interesting article from the CAA discussing "icefalls." The agency says that around 37 cases are reported each year in the U.K. The agency says icefall incidents are usually located within approach paths to major airports, and are attributed to ice forming on the fuselage of aircraft from either leaks or atmospheric conditions and falling off as the aircraft descends to warmer air. You can view a PDF of the CAA article by clicking here .
I tend to believe that aircraft are responsible for the ice versus the super hail theory. So Bob can feel just a little safer on our flight tomorrow knowing that our plane won't come down due to a microwave-size chunk of ice caused by global warming busting through the fuselage.
Thanks for reading.
Joe Escobar