Ice chunks crash through Marlton, NJ, home

MARLTON — A family in Marlton is trying to figure out where chunks of ice that crashed through their house came from.

Kim Paradise told 6 ABC the ice came crashing through their kitchen ceiling on Thursday night and it sounded "like an explosion."

Video taken at the scene showed the giant hole in the roof, as well as pieces of ice in the family's yard.

Paradise said there were planes flying overhead at the time the ice hit the house, but it's not certain if that is where the pieces came from. The website FlightAware.com shows aircraft approach routes to Philadelphia International Airport flying over the Marlton area.

In the past, when ice has hit homes, the FAA has begun an investigation to determine which planes were overhead at the time of the ice strike, and to see if any reported a leak.

The ice that hit the home in Marlton appeared to be clear. The most common type of ice to fall from a plane is typically "blue ice." It forms when the plane's bathroom holding tank leaks, then freezes and falls off.

Clear ice that forms on the plane's surface due to moisture in the air typically falls off in manageable sheets, not chunks.

New Jersey 101.5 Chief Meteorologist Dan Zarrow notes the air was damp and there were windy conditions in the area Thursday night.

Aviation experts say it is possible for "structural ice" to accumulate around gears, struts and tail sections of an aircraft that is flying through damp clouds, and dislodge. This ice can break off in chunks.

For now, though, there are no clear answers to the source of the ice.

Paradise says she's just glad no one was hurt.