Unbeknownst to the man, the large heavy-metal object that fell off a passenger plane’s wing and hit him in the face was a shock.
Craig Donohue from Maine Capitol Police was barely a foot away when the cylinder exploded in front him while he was walking out of Augusta’s Capitol building.
At 12.30pm on Friday, the aircraft’s metal sleeves rattled the ground. Two witnesses witnessed the horror and Donohue told his wife later that he had ‘almost lost consciousness’.
Along with Augusta State Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration was notified about the incident.
He was stunned to hear that Donohue believed that the object “would have left quite a mark” if he had taken 10 seconds longer, since it was only seven or eight pounds of unannounced falling from the sky.
DailyMail.com also reported that he was told by his coworkers that he received a hard hat from them as a joke, to prevent future junk falling out of the sky.
FAA believe that Donohue was able to see the metal sleeves from the large passenger jet’s wing flap before it fell to the ground.
Craig Donohue is a Maine Capitol Police screener. On Friday, a large object fell from an airplane and almost hit him.
Donohue stated that the object was seven inches tall and five inches across. It had been greased and coated in grease. But, Donohue added that the metal object was very heavy and would have made a mark if it did hit him. FAA is investigating and believe it may have been dropped from a plane’s wing.
Donohue claimed that after getting back from the fast food joint, Donohue received a wake-up call.
He heard the object bounce 3-4 feet above him before it stopped at his feet.
After that, he picked up the strange and greasy object. It was large enough to believe it had fallen from an international plane.
The object was also heard by two other pedestrians who happened to be on the same street. They approached Donohue and asked, “What the hell is it?”
DailyMail.com’s Donohue said that he initially believed that the object had fallen from a station in space, but that he changed his mind because the cylinder was not ‘hot’ and melted.
He said that he was unsure if his coworkers would believe him. So he took the object and gave it to his police unit.
The local airport requested that he clean the grease off and search for the serial number of the object. But he could not find it.
Donohue quickly sent his wife a photo of the object, and said that he almost lost it.
Although the incident was shocking, Donohue stated to DailyMail.com that he is happy it didn’t happen and that no one was hurt.
Donohue stated that the FAA has been there a few times since then and believe the part came from an international flight because of its size.
Donohue stated that everyone advised him to get a ticket on the lottery because of his luck. However, he joked that maybe he had ‘used his luck up’.
According to a state news release, “The six-to seven pound like sleeve landed at an extremely high velocity approximately six feet to eight feet away from Capitol Police Screener Craig Donahue (who was walking outside of the entrance).”
The news release stated that the FAA had launched an investigation and was trying to find the origin of the part, which most likely came from an airliner flying on international routes.
Officials stated in the news release that the FAA sent awareness notices to all flights over the region at the time.
As Donohue was returning to lunch, Donohue passed by the Maine Capitol Building.