Woman injured after frozen excrement falls from plane

Woman injured after frozen excrement falls from plane

SINGAPORE - Believe it or not, its possible to get hit by flying poo.

60-year-old Rajrani Gaud was walking around in the Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh, India on Dec 17 when she was hit by what appeared to be frozen excrement.

The Times of India reported that the football-sized excrement dropped from a plane, hit a roof before striking Rajrani on the shoulder.

Witness school teacher Deepak Jain told the Times: "I was only 25 feet away from the spot where the monster came crashing down. Children and villagers witnessed the fall and then heard screams. We ran towards Rajrani's house and referred her to hospital."

The report added: "It could have either been "blue ice" (a term used in aviation for frozen sewage leaked mid-flight from an aircraft's lavatory waste system) or a megacryometeor (an extremely large chunk of ice formed under unusual atmospheric conditions)."

While this is not the first time faeces has fallen from a plane, it is the first reported incident in India. According to Metro, a British couple became the unlikely target of flying poo when a frozen ball hit their roof.

A girl celebrating her 16th birthday in Pennsylvania received the rudest gift when excrement fell from a plane and hit the roof of the canopy drawn over the party area, Huffington Post reported.

The birthday girl's sister told Fox 29 Philadelphia that it was fortunate that the guests had finished the cake: "Because within two minutes something fell from the sky. It was brown. It was everywhere. It got on everything... It was gross!"

In the Metro report, the United Kingdom's Civil Aviation Authority was cited as saying that these incidents are relatively rare. It added that aeroplanes try to store toilet waste until landing, but sometimes the mechanism fails.

A spokesman said: "In comparison to the 2.5 million flights a year in UK airspace, approximately 25 ice falls per year are reported to the CAA."

While this is hardly a need to start carrying steel umbrellas anytime soon, it helps to take shelter when you see a suspicious ball hurtling towards you.

debwong@sph.com.sg

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