SAN DIEGO (CNS) - Workers at a Sorrento Valley auto-repair shop arrived at work Thursday morning to find that a five-gallon bucket of cleaning solution had fallen off a military aircraft flying out of nearby Marine Corps Air Station Miramar and crashed through the roof of the business, damaging a half-dozen cars.
The non-injury mishap was reported about 11 a.m., roughly 16 hours after it occurred, according to USMC officials and the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
Military authorities determined that the container of solvent had fallen out of an MV-22 Osprey tiltroter about 7 p.m. Wednesday, shortly after takeoff from MCAS Miramar, Marine Lt. Tyler Balzer said.
The bucket plunged onto an unoccupied Marindustry Drive building housing Renegade Performance Mustangs and Motorsports, where it broke open and spewed its contents on about six vehicles.
The container apparently had been tied down aboard the aircraft but somehow came loose and slid out a hatch or other opening, the lieutenant said.
The owners of the damaged business just north of Miramar Road, near Interstate 805, will be able to file a claim with the Marine Corps and be reimbursed for their losses, according to Balzer.
