Two seniors in Mississauga are unhurt but shaken up after a chunk of ice believed to be from an airliner passing over their home fell through their roof and landed in their bedroom closet Wednesday morning.
At about 6:30 a.m., the Caccavos were asleep in their home when they heard a loud crash.
“I thought something collapsed, like if you’re throwing something down the stairs and everything, boom – shatters,” Carmela Caccavo told CP24.
The Mississauga mom was sleeping just a couple of metres away from where the ice chunk smashed through her closet.
At first, she thought an animal might have somehow crashed into the home.
“I thought it was a raccoon, because I hear lots of stories. But my son came and we saw a big chunk of ice,” she said.
Michael Caccavo said he felt the house shake.
“I just heard a big loud boom. The house shook a little bit, and just woke up right away.”
When he went to his parents’ room, they found a chunk of ice in the closet and a hole in the ceiling above.
“At first I was in shock and disbelief. I didn’t know what happened,” Caccavo told CTV News Toronto.
They later weighed the piece of ice and found it be close to five pounds.
According to publicly available flight data, an Air Canada Rouge flight from Las Vegas was minutes away from landing at Toronto Pearson International Airport when the Caccavos heard the ice crash through their roof.
It appears the flight passed over their home.
“You know it’s like two or three metres away from where my mom was sleeping. Or even if maybe my dad or mom were getting ready in the morning – that’s where they put their clothes on. It’s scary,” Caccavo said.
He said the family has reached out to Pearson and Air Canada but has so far heard little back.
The hole in their roof was patched, but they estimate a full repair will cost as much as $20,000.
In a statement Wednesday night, Transport Canada said they were not aware of the incident, but that all complaints about objects falling from aircraft are taken seriously.
“The department takes all reports of possible debris coming from aircraft very seriously and every reported incident is investigated by departmental officials,” the statement read. “If it is determined that the ice came from an aircraft, the department will try to identify the carrier to ensure the problem is rectified.”
For their part, the family said they feel lucky that nobody was injured.
“I’m blessed because this accident could have happened – it was so close to my bed and I was still sleeping,” Carmela Caccavo said. “I’m still shaken up and everything is going through my head – how it could have been more dangerous if I had been in the closet.”
She said she’d like to see follow-up to make sure that such incidents do not happen again in the future.
For now, the family is hanging on to the ice in a ziplock bag in their freezer, a reminder of the close call.
“My mom is shaken up. She’s a little worried. She’s scared a little bit,” Michael Caccavo said. “But we’re just happy everyone is ok."
