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People left disgusted after discovering what 'blue ice' is on planes
Plane passengers are often amused by the quirks of flying - like watching their water bottles crush and crisp packets puff up due to changes in cabin pressure.
But there's one in-flight phenomenon that some would find a little more nauseating than most: the mysterious and messy reality of 'blue ice'.
Blue ice occurs when frozen blocks of aircraft toilet waste break loose mid-flight and fall to the ground, sometimes causing property damage, injury and costly clean-up.
The term 'blue ice' refers to waste leaked from an aircraft lavatory system, mixed with blue disinfectant, which freezes at cruising altitudes where temperatures can plunge below –60 degrees Celsius.
Upon descent, the ice can dislodge and fall to the ground, sometimes with dangerous consequences.
Though modern aircraft waste systems are designed to be completely sealed and undergo regular inspection, small leaks - caused by hairline cracks or faulty seals - can occasionally occur.
These incidents are more common than many realise, with aviation experts at Brookfield Aviation highlighting one of the very real hazards of modern air travel.
In recent years, the phenomenon has made headlines around the world for the unique stories of chaos it can cause 35,000 feet below.
In December 2015, a 60-year-old woman narrowly escaped death when a chunk of ice mysteriously fell from the sky over a village in India – with scientists at the time saying it may have come from a plane's toilet.
The incident left the woman, identified by media as Rajrani Gaud, with a shoulder injury, but those who live in the village of Aamkhoh said her injuries could have been far worse.
Witnesses claimed she survived the incident because the ice crashed onto a home's terrace before hitting her.
The following year, a teacher in Canada claimed a frozen lump of excrement from a plane passing overhead ripped a hole in the roof of her mother's house.
Stephanie Moore was woken by the crashing noise, and looked up to discover a huge hole in the ceiling - along with a puddle of water on the floor in the hallway - less than 15 feet from where she was sleeping.
She said that the roofer sent round to inspect and repair the damage described it as the 'strangest thing they had ever seen,' and it was only then that they mentioned that it could be 'blue ice.'
Similar, in September 2012, residents of two Long Island homes were woken in the early hours of a Sunday by a calamitous crashing noise as large and heavy debris of material fell through both their roofs.
Neighbours Lois Farella and Anne Grace of Valley Stream were left with gaping holes in their roofs, the cause of which was believed to be frozen waste - known as 'blue ice' - that most likely leaked from a passing aircraft.
At the time, the FVV investigated the possibility that a plane's faulty sewage tank might have be responsible for the damage done to the shingles, the plywood and even the layer of insulation of the houses.
'It's a very huge hole. It did a lot of damage through heavy wood. I can't imagine if it hit a person,' Ms Grace told CBS of the destruction caused on her home.
Her elderly neighbour who was left with a basketball-sized hole in her own roof, recalled: 'We both woke up to a very loud bang. I looked around - no breeze, no rain, nothing.'
In September 2014, a furious homeowner claimed low-flying planes on a Heathrow flight path are damaging his £3 million Georgian mansion.
Owner Daljit Bhail, 55, alleged large gusts of wind caused by aircraft caused tiles on his roof to be dislodged, and blue ice had smashed a glass lantern just outside the house.
He said low flying planes over the past three years have caused 'vortex damage' - where large gusts of wind from planes have smashed into buildings.
Mr Bhail claimed blue ice - frozen sewage leaked mid-flight from plane toilets - smashed a glass lantern just outside the house, which he rents on Airbnb.
And perhaps, most memorably, was an incident in 1971 that saw a piece of blue ice crash straight through the roof of a London chapel in the middle of a quiet service.
While these events may sound rare, the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) receives around 25 reports of blue ice falls each year, with comparable figures recorded in North America.
Most of the time, falling blue ice lands harmlessly in remote areas or breaks up before reaching the ground.
In light of the possibility that blue ice could strike property or people, experts at Brookfield Aviation stress the importance of rigorous aircraft maintenance - even for systems passengers rarely think about.
