Five-hundred-pound plane engine part falls from the sky

Earlier there was the story of plane engine parts falling from the sky, scattering across a warehouse roof in Queens, and smashing windshields of cars parked in the warehouse’s lot.

Here’s another plane parts falling from the sky story–an even bigger one. Chicken Little would really have something to squawk about with this one. An Arrow Cargo McDonnell Douglas DC-10 freighter, on it’s way from Brazil to Colombia, had an issue with an engine. One of the three engines conked out and left the plane, literally. Not all of the engine, mind you, but a large portion of it.

When an engine of this size leaves a plane, it’s impressive. When its pieces made contact after their tumble through the sky, they landed on 12 houses and many cars. The largest engine part weighed 550 pounds. Now, that’s some part that I bet made a mighty loud bang. The rest of the airplane was able to arrive safely in Bogota.

Luckily, no one was hurt, and the cargo company is paying for the damages. [The Aviation Herald Photo: PD/EPA/Arlesson Sicsu]