Watch CBS News

FAA Confirms Debris Found In Stewart Manor Yard Is That Of A-380 Aircraft

STEWART MANOR, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- The FAA confirms that debris found in a Stewart Manor yard last Friday is a piece of an A-380 aircraft's instruction panel from the inside of a landing gear door.

The FAA is still working to find out which plane it came from, WCBS 880's Ginny Kosola reported. But Air France, Emirates, Singapore Airlines, Korean Air and Lufthansa all fly A-380s out of John F. Kennedy International Airport.

FAA Confirms Debris Found In Stewart Manor Yard Is That Of A-380 Aircraft

As CBS 2's Jennifer McLogan reported, the man who found it, Lee Ackerman, wondered if the plane part came hurtling down from one of the many aircraft that traverse Nassau County each day.

"I came walking right through here and found it in the middle of my ferns, right there. I didn't at first know what it was at first, you know, it was black and multicolored, and I picked it up and realized what it was," Ackerman said.

Ackerman said he and his neighbors were fortunate that they were not clobbered on the head by the piece of metal with text and diagrams printed on it, and the logo for aircraft wing strut parts manufacturer Goodrich.

"It is this sheet metal that apparently came off an Airbus 380 – it's labeled as a 380. It's the wing strut maintenance for an Airbus 380, and it's got part numbers, pressure numbers, temperature numbers on it, and I don't know how it got under the tree and in the ferns and tucked in under there. My best guess is it hit the roof and slid off," Ackerman said.

Ackerman was out for a morning walk, and he said when he left, his garden was empty. When he got back, he spotted the aluminum stamped metal piece – measuring about 12 inches by 11 inches.

Cristina O'Keefe of the Town Village Aircraft Safety and Noise Abatement Committee is concerned that more than 40 percent of landings in July occurred over Stewart Manor.

"As you increase the volume of planes and stuff is falling off of them, then you're increasing the possibility that this could happen again," she said.

Port Authority confirms runway 22L at JFK is a heavily used runway and the FAA directs many fights over Long Island for landing.

There are currently roundtables scheduled in Long Island to address concerns and see where changes can be made, Kosola reported.

Port Authority said a lot of JFK traffic is diverted over Long Island by the FAA.

Rep. Steve Israel has demanded officials reduce the amount of flights coming in and out 22L at JFK.

Israel told 1010 WINS communities in his congressional district on the north shore of Long Island are being "tormented" by noise from planes and says it is not in accordance with an agreement signed 14 years ago in an effort to reduce the noise.

You Might Also Be Interested In:

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.