By Cris Italia
Ron Yadgarov, general manager at Master Paint Roller, heard a loud boom from his office at approximately 11:50 p.m. "It was like a piercing sound, and I just rushed out to see what happened." Upon discovering the piece, Yadgarov immediately phoned the police. "We contacted the authorities and did what we had to." Yadgarov, along with those present, were worried that a plane was breaking apart.
With haunting thoughts of the Flight 587 crash still looming, witnesses were horrified at what the plane part could mean. "You've got to call the police and tell them that a plane is missing a part," said Patrick Van Atta, a construction worker from Baldwin Harbor. Van Atta described the object as 2-foot pipe that was hollow, and tapered at one end. The object left a hole about 10"x8" in the corrugated steel roof.
After the incident was reported, FAA investigators rushed to the scene. "I went up on the roof to patch up the hole and there were helicopters flying over head," stated Van Atta.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is currently investigating the matter. FAA Operations Inspector Shapour Moinian would not comment on the investigation.
An FAA spokesperson admitted that parts from planes fall off all the time. "Parts of planes fall off not only near Long Island, but all over the country," said Jim Peters.
"We don't know why it fell off, that's why we investigate," Peters added. The FAA has not identified the plane to which the part belonged. "Planes do break down... There is no way to prevent this from happening," Peters stated. "Each case is different in its individual way, each airline has their inexcusable reason [why parts fall off]... Thankfully no one was hurt."
"This [incident] scares us and triggers a concern," Yadgarov said. "Now we have to be [on the lookout for] of parts falling from airplanes."
