A piece of metal hit a car in the Casco Bay Lines lot. Photo courtesy of Cam Malette
A 35-pound metal rod smashed into a vehicle in the Casco Bay Lines parking lot in Portland, and police believe it might have dropped from an airplane.
While working on the ferries Wednesday night, Casco Bay Lines deckhand Cam Malette got a call around 10 p.m. from a co-worker who told him the rear windshield of his Volkswagen Jetta was on the sidewalk, he said in an interview Thursday.
“How could that possibly happen?” Malette recalled thinking. Then his second thought: “How am I going to tell my parents?”
The 21-year-old deckhand arrived in the parking lot near 56 Commercial St., which was empty except for two others vehicles, and found the car’s rear window shattered and the rear hatch crumpled. That’s when Malette saw the solid metal rod, which was thick and solid and the length of his forearm.
The 35-pound object crumpled the rear end of the Volkswagen Jetta. Photo courtesy of Cam Malette
He then called his cousin, Portland police Lt. Zack Finley, to report the damage.
The two determined that, “based on the damage and location,” the piece of metal may have fallen from an airplane, said Portland police spokesperson Brad Nadeau. The area near the waterfront is in the flight path of some planes going to and from the Portland Jetport just up the Fore River.
The Federal Aviation Administration has been notified and is investigating the incident, Nadeau said. A spokesperson from the FAA did not respond to inquiries about the incident Thursday afternoon.
Malette said he talked with some people from the FAA, but because he wasn’t there to witness the incident, he can only guess what happened. Casco Bay Lines security cameras in that lot weren’t working at the time the object crashed into his car, he said, but he and his cousin thought the only way such it could do so much damage was if it came from the sky.
Police believe the heavy metal rod may have dropped from an aircraft. Photo courtesy of Cam Malette
All of the car’s lights still work, so he said he was able to drive the car home safely. But he plans to replace the bumper and entire tailgate.
“I wanted to be upset, but I’m thankful it hit my car as opposed to someone walking,” Malette said.
