Refrigerator-sized aircraft part crashes in Kent neighborhood
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KENT, Wash. - The FAA is investigating after a piece of metal about the size of a refrigerator door fell from a jet aircraft and crashed into a residential neighborhood Friday morning on Kent's East Hill.
Residents who live in the area said the errant aircraft part hit the ground just before 7 a.m. and skipped about 30 feet before coming to rest on the street, right next to sidewalks and the front yards of homes there.
According to witnesses, lots of people walk through the area each day, including children heading to school. But luckily no one was hit when the part came crashing down.
"We were grateful that no children were hurt and it didn't hit a house or a car," said Maureen Rinabarger.
The neighbors say it appeared to be a cargo jet heading for Boeing Field and moments later, the piece fell out of the sky, fluttering its way to the ground.
"We heard a big crash, like a slap, slap," Rinabarger said. "And it did sound like a big large piece of metal."
Later Friday afternoon, the FAA confirmed it was part of a landing gear door off a Boeing 767, but have not said if they have located the plane it came from.
Residents who live in the area said the errant aircraft part hit the ground just before 7 a.m. and skipped about 30 feet before coming to rest on the street, right next to sidewalks and the front yards of homes there.
According to witnesses, lots of people walk through the area each day, including children heading to school. But luckily no one was hit when the part came crashing down.
"We were grateful that no children were hurt and it didn't hit a house or a car," said Maureen Rinabarger.
The neighbors say it appeared to be a cargo jet heading for Boeing Field and moments later, the piece fell out of the sky, fluttering its way to the ground.
"We heard a big crash, like a slap, slap," Rinabarger said. "And it did sound like a big large piece of metal."
Later Friday afternoon, the FAA confirmed it was part of a landing gear door off a Boeing 767, but have not said if they have located the plane it came from.
It is now confirmed that it was an ABX Air 767-200 Freighter that dropped the landing gear door.
 @Alexander Boström Yep, just as I thought. If you read my comment I posted toward the bottom when this news item was first posted, I called it a "flying Door from the L/H main gear for a 767. Oleo door probably would be the correct term. We used to call those flying doors because in addition to being a close out panel when the gear is retracted, it also helps lock the drag braces if the pilot dose a alternate gear extension in flight. The landing gear door is the big hinged door that closes after the gear is in the wheel well. I've worked on 767's for many years. Awesome Aircraft...
 @Alexander Boström Let me correct myself, Its a R/H Door. LOL, Sorry I guess I'm all turned around today...
 @bob59 Ok, thanks for the reply, if you have worked on the 767 for many years you know that better than me...Â
Thank you again for the reply /Alexander :-)
From Avherald.com: Â http://avherald.com/h?article=45590b5c&opt=1
Gee, I used to live less than a block away from all of those people interviewed growing up.  They look older of course, but I recognized their names.  That's the Misty Meadows neighborhood, off of 132nd Ave SE in Kent.  Wild stuff to have a Boeing 767 landing gear door fall on the street in front of homes while the kids are going to school in the morning.
Boeing, Boeing, Boeing.....glad no one was hut\rt
I Â think it must be the UPS 767-300F Â with reg. N304UP and serial number: 27242 , have dropped what seems like an rear landing gear door.Â
I have compared the part on the pictures and the landing gear door on the UPS 767-300F that most likely dropped a landing gear door, and they look exactly the same in the shape and everything! So i think it must be that one.
Even if it was pretty long time from 7 pm. the part may have been captured by winds and it can take a while for the part, falling from about 17 000 ft. to land on the ground.Â
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/ Alexander
 @Alexander Boström Or, as other say it may have been the ABX 767-200F that may have dropped it's landing gear door, because the next flight it should had flown is delayed from 8.00 A.M.  to 15.45 P.M.Â
To be even more clear, that looks like a composite part, not metal, so its not like a piece of aluminum the size of maybe a small fridge door fell. It likely weighs about 20-30 pounds.
 @IlBrutto13 You are correct.  It definitely is a honeycomb, composite sandwich panel.
Dayum.
I'm glad nobody got hurt
there's only a couple of 767 aircraft that this could have come off of:
an airborne express 767-200 arrived at boeing field at 0649
a ups 767-300 that left boeing field at 0625
i'm leaning towards the airborne express flight since boeing field was on a north pattern today & there were no 767 flights into or out of sea-tac during the 0600-0700 time frame
 @8thNotch Informed timeline and possibles. Thanks.
Cops in Kent
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I know things have changed....ballard is young and neat...back in the 1980's...it was still the 'old neighborhood'...lol.....same for a lot of places on earth, people used to laugh at themselves, today, people take themselves as too important.....crazy.
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here is a clip from youtube:Â ballard driving school...I think funny---still.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBgIvH0tu6Y
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...if the 'Almost Live' people were still around...a great skit!!!! lol..that show was awesome. I only spent 1 year in Seattle, but, those comedy sketches were very funny....I mean, I was learning the nuance of neighborhoods like Ballard, the stereotypes....that show was hysterical on rainy, winter evenings....they should bring it back...so much talent in Seattle.....
Some weird things happen in kent..lol.........
That's one heck of a wake up call. Â
youre welcome like i said 767. YEAH SON
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If it is from a cargo plane it maybe from an Korean Air Cargo 747-400 that passed south of Kent, the part may have blew there. The plane was at an altitude of about 38000 feet.
 @Alexander Boström its from a 767 part number is 113t8201-73 it is a shock strut door
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 @yeah son Yeah, i know it's the UPS 767 that flew over then.
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 @Alexander Boström yeah son
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The MD-11F from FedEx should have been on an altitude of about 19 000 ft. when it was over Kent.
 @Alexander Boström But they say they saw a cargo plane fly low over Kent, it may be an MD-11 FedEx that have dropped something.
Looking at the size, it may be a gear access door. The ID plate looks like it says 757...
Looks to me like the aircraft owner may not have been doing the maintenance correctly, and fixing parts that may have corroded... the door appears to be missing a mount, which most likely caused it to be ripped off by the airstream... Doesn't matter much on who built the part, or the airplane it was on.. Maintenance is the operators responsibility.
Komo, there is a big difference between a refrigerator sized part, and a refrigerator DOOR sized part... Sensationalization at work...
 @Mr. H The size difference wouldn't matter much if it had landed on your head.
 @Mr. H There are small refrigerators.
That could have ended up being disasterous if it hit someone or a vehicle. Glad no one was hurt!
That sure is a flat refrigerator........
@Gino Its not a refrigerator. They were just making the comparison that the piece of metal that fell from the sky is the size of a refrigerator door. Sheesh.
(it's sarcasm)
@Tattooed_Angel Wife: Do these pants make me look fat? Husband: No honey its not the pants.
@chandler Really? Oh. I have a difficult time sometimes determining when people are trying to be sarcastic or not. Sorry!
@Gino Everything is thin these days. TVs used to be deep and large, and then refridgerator manufacturers realized the same could be applied to their products. Food is also thinner now.
@northwestsurfer Too bad the food doesn't make ME thinner!
Nah, they shot the doors off of a 767 with the laser plane. They gotta boost the output of that iodine laser, it's supposed to vaporize stuff like plane parts and ship conning towers.
@FreeCoffeeNow! haha, wth?
Oh "sheet"!!!!!!
Yep, that's a Boeing part.
I'm waiting for someone to say it's a South Carolina Boeing part....
Where in Kent on the East Hill did it crash?
Something that large, I would suspect someone is missing it.
That is one of the doors from a 767 that Boeing used to make in Auburn before they shipped the work overseas. Another example of outsourcing quality?
@Quadshot Whats wrong? No one going to blame this on bush? Comeon dumocrats. Your getting a little lax in your "blame everything on bush" war campaign.
Don't let pictures of Obozo give you a false sense of security.
Now...repeat after me..."BUSH CAUSED THIS TO HAPPEN". "IT COULD HAVE KILLED SOMEONE". " "BUSH CAUSED THIS TO HAPPEN" IT COULD HAVE KILLED SOMEONE"
LOL
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The commercials on Faux News are over. You can go back to watching TV now.
@John Not everything needs to be related to politics. Let it go & get a life.
@John
I normally attempt to be fairly eloquent in my responses/ retorts, but with you, words fail me... Please don't post anymore so as to give the illusion of intelligence to the Tea Party.
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