PATERSON, N.J. (PIX11) -- A New Jersey family is picking up the pieces after a large chunk of ice fell from the sky and ripped through their attic.
The Federal Aviation Administration is aware of the freak accident that experts believe came from an airplane.
While living under a busy flight path in Paterson, New Jersey, the roar of a jet engine is nothing new. However, a thunderous crash startled the Gomez family Wednesday night after a massive chunk of ice rocketed through their roof.
"Luckily, we didn't get hit," said Paul Gomez, who bought the house on East 38th Street a few months ago.
"We were sitting down having a great time eating with family when out of nowhere we heard a helicopter noise," his daughter Sabrina recalled.
They all ran inside to their third floor on East 38th Street and found destruction.
"It went through the roof, hit the floor so hard it cracked the second-floor ceiling," Gomez said.
A review of nearby flights from Newark Airport around 9:42 p.m. shows several aircraft flew close by or right over their neighborhood.
"The police officer said it was probably from an airplane," Gomez told PIX11 News.
Accidental aircraft biohazard discharges that form into ice have happened but are rare, according to aviation experts.
"It's a wild card here what caused this," remarked Dr. Joe Schwieterman, a professor at DePaul University.
The Gomez family said there was no odor left behind, and the ice had a bluish hue.
"It was kind of a bluish ice color, like an iceberg," Sabrina Gomez explained.
Dr. Schwieterman is a transportation professor who studies such phenomena. "A really unusual situation, but something about the chemistry of the plane, the water or lavatories or external from the plane. It's scary stuff."
The FAA told PIX11 News it "generally" investigates incidents like this.
The damage from this "skyfall" could cost the family up to $20,000, Gomez said. "One in a million. One in a million. It just had to be my house."
The FAA told the family it would be on site Monday to investigate, but for now, it would be up to his insurance to cover the bill.
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