Skip to main content

Skydiving camera lens explodes through roof of California home

fallssky_mini
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Back on September 2, Petaluma resident Debbie Payne heard a loud crash and felt the entire home shake, also catching the attention of a nearby neighbor. After searching around the house, Ms. Payne discovered a large 9-inch hole in the roof as well as two window screens sliced open. Laying on the ground nearby, the neighbor found the remnants of a two pound Canon 24-105mm lens designed for DSLR camera like the Canon EOS Rebel T3i. Ms. Payne mailed in a police report and Petaluma law enforcement officials are attempting to locate the owner of the lens using the serial number.

roof_holeMs. Payne didn’t recall seeing or hearing any low flying aircraft before the crash, but police are checking with the local airport and officials at the FAA to determine which aircraft the lens could have broken off from and plummeted to the ground. FAA officials have heard of plane parts or chunks of ice breaking off aircraft and falling to the ground, but the chances of linking the lens to an aircraft are slim. The cost of repairing the damage to the roof and the screens is going to run the insurance company $4,500 according to bids from contractors. Ms. Payne is being forced to pay the $1,000 deductible for the repair, but hopes to reclaim that money if the owner of the lens can be tracked down.

Recommended Videos

While Ms. Payne is unhappy about the unexpected expense, she’s glad that no person was injured at the time of the crash. Her house is positioned about 200 feet away from an elementary school, a possible deadly scenario if the path of the falling lens had taken a slightly different course. Besides airplanes, police are also looking into hot-air balloons which are known to fly in the area.  However, a slowly escaping hot-air balloon would have likely been spotted by a resident within the neighborhood. 

Mike Flacy
By day, I'm the content and social media manager for High-Def Digest, Steve's Digicams and The CheckOut on Ben's Bargains…
My favorite SD card reader is a mere $15 for Prime Big Deal Days
The Lexar USB-C SD card reader.

I take a lot of pictures on a daily basis. And while I usually get to offload them in the comfort of my home, sometimes I need to export as quickly as possible. Maybe even straight from my phone.

That's where my new favorite SD card reader comes in.

Read more
Astronaut enjoys out-of-this-world view from his bedroom window
An aurora as seen from a Crew Dragon spacecraft docked at the ISS.

A NASA astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) has posted a beautiful image showing an aurora over Earth.

Matthew Dominick has been aboard the ISS since March and is due to return home on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft on Sunday. In fact, it was from the docked Crew Dragon that he captured the stunning shot.

Read more
Best GoPro Prime Big Deal Days deals: Every model is on sale!
Best Prime Day Deals

Update 10/9/24: Day one of Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days festivities has closed out, but we've still got one more day of sales to go. Prime Day GoPro deals are still ripe for the picking, so check back here regularly if you haven't already made an action camera purchase this Prime Day.

In case you didn't know, it is now time for Prime Big Deal Day deals to heat up. Prime Day deals officialy lasts through October 9, and among them are plenty of Prime Big Deal Day camera deals that include good prices on action cameras. And, yet again, within these deals you'll find deals on what is probably the biggest name in action cameras, GoPro. The best GoPro Prime Day deals remaining offer some impressive savings on a number of camera models, as well as some accessories. Below you'll find all of the best GoPro Prime Big Deal Day deals available, so read onward for the details.
GoPro Hero 9 Black — $200 $350 43% off

Read more