- JetBlue is getting sued for $1 million by a California couple alleging one of their planes dropped a massive chunk of ice on their home, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in physical and emotional damage.
The sky is falling—at least for one California couple.
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 reside near Los Angeles International Airport in Inglewood, Calif., are suing JetBlue for $1 million for the incident, alleging one of their planes was responsible for the frozen projectile, resulting in “extensive damage to their roof.” The civil lawsuit, filed Jan. 9, 2025, alleges the ice ball came from JetBlue flight 2715, which was flying over their home at that exact moment.
According to the lawsuit, the incident resulted in six figures worth of physical damage to their home and roof and they are suing for negligence and trespass. The couple is seeking compensation for loss of work and the need to relocate including $300,000 for emotional distress, $300,000 for pain, suffering, and inconvenience, $40,000 in medical expenses, and $360,000 in property damages, according to Business Insider.
“At JetBlue, safety is our number one priority and guides everything we do,” a JetBlue spokesperson told Fortune. “Due to ongoing litigation, we will not be commenting on this matter.” The flight in question was allegedly inbound from New York City to LAX when the frozen fuselage breached their bedroom.
Christopher A. Kanne, an attorney with Los Angeles-based Engstrom, Lipscomb & Lack, is listed as the representation for Reese and Ferrarini. Kanne did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment.
Immediately following the incident, police and fire service were called to the couple’s home, and the Federal Aviation Administration also launched an investigation. The FAA found, according to the lawsuit, the aircraft had a “history of potable water issues dating back to July 2023,” and was allegedly responsible for a similar incident in August 2023. In that case, a slab of “clear ice” crashed through the roof of a home in Boston, according to the complaint.
Following the incident involving Reese and Ferrarini, JetBlue launched an “investigation and conduct[ed] in-depth testing and inspection” of a valve that had been removed from the aircraft after the ice fell, according to the complaint. But JetBlue’s efforts were too late.
“Had JetBlue done so after being on notice that there was a problem as early as July 2023, the discharge of the large block of ice on plaintiffs’ home would not have occurred,” the lawsuit alleges.
Before the incident, hearing planes fly overhead was a regular occurrence—happening every one-to-five minutes, being so close to a busy airport. But now the couple report they would “cringe in fear with each plane that passed over their home,” and they could “no longer sleep comfortably…without thinking of the incident,” according to the lawsuit.
The fear has also allegedly 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 forcing the couple to move out of fear it’ll happen again, according to the lawsuit. This is an especially tough pill for Reese and Ferrarini to swallow, considering they refer to the place as their “dream home” throughout the lawsuit.
“The incident has overall made them anxious and depressed, feeling unsafe in what was their dream home,” according to the complaint. The couple bought the house in June 2020 and renovated it to make it a place where they could “reside for many years.”
