What the hail?

Another big block of ice fell in new zealand yesterday.

MetService was forecasting thunderstorms and hail for the area, but says it is possible the ice fell from the wing of a plane flying overhead.

This is becoming more and more common latley.
I remember several other posts on the board about
this phenomenon, but the search #tion does'nt
seem to be working?



Any ideas on this?

onenews.nzoom.com...

Nice link fortean!!

Nothing "new", of course, as our "hero" Charles ably demonstrated and catalogued and FT continues to do to this day!

"* Ice sometimes forms on aircraft wings when waste water from the galley or lavatory seeps out and freezes. The phenomenon is known as "blue ice" because the water is often coloured by chemicals. The Civil Aviation Authority says there are about 20 reported cases a year in Britain. The Havant fall was probably one of these. However, not all ice falls can be accounted for in this way. Some are formed in the atmosphere like the chunk that nearly brained meteorologist R.F. Griffiths in Manchester in 1973 [FT13:9]. Furthermore, there are many recorded falls before aircraft were invented. A lump with a volume of 18 cubic feet fell on Hungary in 1802 and one weighing half a ton fell on Ord, Ross-shire, Scotland, in 1849."

Half a ton?!! Ye Gods, fetch my ice bucket - and hard hat someone please!!

Just goes to show that the "World" we live in is a quite remarkable place...