Pilot tells authorities that a door accidentally opened creating panic in Copley Township, Ohio

Published: July 23, 2012
Beacon Journal staff report

COPLEY TWP: The mystery has been solved over the cans of furniture polish and fabric that fell from the sky into an Aldi’s parking lot Friday night.

Copley Police Chief Mike Mier said the department has received a call from the pilot whose name was not released. The pilot told investigators that an exterior panel door opened while he was flying in the area spilling two cans of furniture polish, fabric and other items onto the ground below.

Mier said police officers were watching the plane doing maneuvers over the township and Fairlawn Friday night when they saw items fall from the plane.

Officers recovered some of the items from the Aldi’s parking lot at 120 South Cleveland-Massillon Road. No one on the ground was hurt.

Panicked motorists and residents called 911 fearing a person had fallen from the low-flying plane.
 
Mier said the pilot will not be charged.

http://barberton.ohio.com

Low-flying plane creates buzz in Akron area

Beacon Journal staff report
Published: July 20, 2012 

A low-flying plane buzzing along rooftops in Summit County prompted a flurry of calls to local police departments.

A plane doing stunt-like maneuvers was reported flying in the area around 7 p.m. Friday.

Copley Township Police Chief Mike Mier said his officers observed what appeared to be a stunt plane flying low and performing maneuvers along the Copley-Fairlawn border.

At one point, Mier said, something fell out of the plane — prompting numerous calls to 911 from witnesses who thought someone had jumped out of the aircraft and may have been hurt.

Mier said officers found pieces of fabric and two cans of Pledge furniture polish in the parking lot of the Aldi’s store on South Cleveland-Massillon Road that witnesses said came from the plane. No one was injured on the ground.

The chief said it appears the stuff may have fallen out of the aircraft by accident during one of its maneuvers.

A check of area airports, Mier said, turned up no clues about the plane. Airport operators told authorities that a small plane flying at lower altitudes would not always file a flight plan with local towers.

The plane also was sighted buzzing the skyline in downtown Akron.

http://www.ohio.com