On New Year’s Day 2024, Michael Reese and Leah Ferrarini were settling into bed for the evening when a “large block of ice, the size of [a] watermelon” suddenly slammed into their bedroom close to their pillows, “barely escaping devastating physical injury,” according to a lawsuit obtained by Fortune.
Reese and Ferrarini, who live near Los Angeles International Airport in Inglewood, California, are fighting JetBlue for $1 million. They claim that one of JetBlue’s planes caused a frozen object to hit their roof, which led to significant damage. The civil lawsuit, filed Jan. 9, 2025, says the ice ball came from JetBlue flight 2715, which was flying over their home at that exact moment.
The lawsuit claims that the event caused a lot of damage, costing them over $100,000 to their home and roof. They are suing for carelessness and trespassing. The couple is asking for money to cover lost wages and moving costs. They are requesting $300,000 for mental distress, $300,000 for pain, suffering, and inconvenience, $40,000 for medical bills, and $360,000 for damage to their property, as reported by Business Insider.
A JetBlue spokesperson told Fortune, “Safety is our top priority and influences everything we do.” “We can’t comment on this issue because it’s the subject of a legal dispute.” The flight was coming from New York City to LAX when part of the plane’s frozen body broke into their bedroom.
Christopher A. Kanne, a lawyer from the Los Angeles firm Engstrom, Lipscomb & Lack, is the agent for Reese and Ferrarini. Kanne did not reply right away to Fortune’s request for a statement.
After the incident, police and firefighters were called to the couple’s home, and the Federal Aviation Administration started a probe. The FAA discovered, based on the case, that the plane had problems with its drinking water since July 2023 and was reportedly involved in a similar issue in August 2023. A piece of “clear ice” fell through the roof of a house in Boston, as stated in the lawsuit.
After the incident with Reese and Ferrarini, JetBlue started an investigation and carefully examined a valve that had been taken off the plane after ice fell, according to the lawsuit. But JetBlue acted too late.
The lawsuit claims that if JetBlue had acted after learning about the problem in July 2023, the big block of ice falling on the plaintiffs’ home would not have happened.
Before the event, it was normal to hear planes flying overhead every one to five minutes because we lived near a busy airport. The couple now says they feel scared whenever a plane flies over their home, and they can’t sleep well because they keep thinking about what happened, according to their claim.
The fear has also reportedly caused Reese significant insomnia, which has forced him to turn down work as a commercial driver for the TV and film industry.
The physical and emotional damage are driving the couple to move out of fear it’ll happen again, according to the lawsuit. This is especially hard for Reese and Ferrarini to accept because they call the place their “dream home” in the case.
The incident has made them anxious and depressed, leaving them feeling unsafe in their dream home, according to the lawsuit. The couple bought the house in June 2020 and fixed it up so they could live there for a long time.
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