The pipe that crashed onto a parked car in Portland came from a tugboat, not an airplane.
That’s the conclusion of an investigation from the Federal Aviation Administration and Casco Bay Lines, according to Brad Nadeau, a spokesperson for the Portland Police Department.
The damage was discovered about 10:10 p.m. Wednesday. The vehicle was parked on Commercial Street, near the Maine State Pier.
The metal pipe, which weighed about 35 pounds, fell onto the vehicle, causing “significant damage,” Nadeau said Friday afternoon. It shattered the rear window and dented the frame.
Early speculation centered around the pipe having broken off a plane passing overhead. But the investigation revealed that it broke off a nearby tugboat. The pipe appears to have been part of a tie down.
According to Casco Bay Lines, there was too much tension on a cleat tied to a tugboat during low tide. This caused the cleat to break off the boat, launching it over the Maine State Pier building and eventually hitting the car in the parking lot, CBS 13 reported.