Bag of cremated human remains accidentally dropped from airplane

About a week ago, Barbara Vreeland, resident of Forest Gale (OR), was cooking dinner in her kitchen. It was about 1800, when all of a sudden she heard a loud noise above her head. She had no idea what it could be, so she went outside to see if something had fallen on her house. Something had, but she could not have guessed what it was.

She walked outside the house to check out her roof, and her neighbors told her that a small airplane had been circling the area and had cut its engine. It was gliding, and someone's hand was sticking out from the airplane's passenger-side window, holding something.

"They could see someone's hand from passenger side with a sack in it and something falling out if it. It hit our roof. That's what made all the commotion," Vreeland told The Argus. "It was more than a bang," she added. "I just didn't know what it was."

What Vreeland found was a large hole in her roof. When she check out her attic, she found it covered with a heavy gray material that looked like dry cement mix. So she called the local police department, and they in turn called the fire department. They both came to check out the damage. They collected as much of the material as they could, bagged it and temporarily patched her roof.

Then came the big surprise. "That night at around 10 p.m. the police came and said it was cremated remains. I was kind of in shock. They said even if the plane was gliding, it was doing about 80 miles per hour. We were lucky no one was hurt. It hit right where a big rafter was.  Some material is still there. I don't know what to do with it. I feel sorry for the family."

As it turns out, the remains belong to a man who died in June of natural causes. He was 46 years old and a resident of Washington State. "He had connections in Forest Grove and wanted his remains spread over Mountain View Cemetery. His family was carrying out his wishes and is very distraught about the mishap," Vreeland said she was told.

According to FAA investigator Bob Braze, the aircraft was a C172 that had been rented at Twin Oaks Airport. "I've been on this job for 20 years, and I haven't heard of this happening," Braze said. "We occasionally get reports of objects dropping from the sky, like built-up ice falling from an airplane or things coming out of orbit hitting the desert, but not something like this."

As to regulations governing the dropping of cremated remains, there appears to be no specific regulation that covers this type of activity. "Regulations require a pilot to exercise care when dropping something from an airplane. It must not create a hazard nor cause damage to persons or property on the ground. Planes must fly at 1,000 feet over congested areas and 500 feet over non-congested areas."

"The plan was to scatter the ashes over the cemetery, but the bag slipped," said Braze. "The FAA is interested in how the operation took place and if it was in compliance with our regulations. Witnesses around the housing area said the plane was below 500 feet."

The FAA is investigating the incident and could take action to suspend the pilot's license and/or issue a fine.

FMI: www.cremation.org, www.icfa.org