Tuesday 16 August 2022 06:13 PM Man narrowly misses being hit by 7lb metal object that fell from an aircraft trends now Man narrowly misses being hit by 7lb metal object that fell from an aircraft wing and landed on the ground next to him outside the Maine Capitol building Maine Capitol Police Screener Craig Donohue was almost hit by a metal object hurtling towards the ground on Frida The object, which weighed 6-8 pounds, landed less than 10 feet from him as he wondered where it came from He reported the event to the Federal Aviation Administration, who are now investigating the incident Donohue joked his colleagues bought him a hard hat to protect against future junk falling towards the Earth By Joseph Michalitsianos For Dailymail.Com Published: 17:56 BST, 16 August 2022 | Updated: 18:07 BST, 16 August 2022 Viewcomments A man was left stunned after a large, heavy metal object dropped from the wing of a passenger airplane and landed in front of him on the street. Maine Capitol Police Screener Craig Donohue was only a few feet from disaster when the cylinder crashed in front of him as he walked outside the entrance of the state's capitol building in Augusta, Maine. Two witnesses watched on in horror as the metal sleeve shook the ground at around 12.30 p.m last Friday. The Federal Aviation Administration were notified along with the Augusta State Airport. Stunned Donohue said he believes the object 'would have left a pretty good mark' had it hit him, as it was 'seven or eight pounds falling from the sky unannounced.' He also said his fellow employees gifted him a hard hat as a joke to protect against future junk falling from the sky. The FAA believes that the metal sleeve may have fallen from the wing flap of a large passenger jet, before plummeting to the ground at a high speed in front of Donohue. Craig Donohue, who works as a screener with the Maine Capitol Police, was almost struck by a heavy object that fell from a plane on Friday Donohue described the object as seven inches long and five inches wide and covered in grease, but added the metal object was heavy and 'would have left a good mark' if it hit him. The FAA are investigating but believe that it could have fallen from the wing of a jet The incident occurred just outside the Maine Capitol Building as Donohue was returning from lunch Donohue said the 'wake up call' occurred when he was returning from lunch and casually walking back to the state house, when he heard a 'loud thud' followed by 'the sound of metal rolling.' He then found the object which he described as 7 inches long and 5 inches wide and covered in grease. Two other people saw the object drop and walked over to Donohue, who asked 'what the heck is that thing?' The three were left confused and 'just looking at each other,' as they looked around for clues but realized there was 'nothing going on' and 'nobody else in that area,' he said in an interview with CNN. They then realized it must have fell from the sky and all looked up, wondering if it was an object that may have even fallen from a space station. Donohue said he didn't think his colleagues would believe him when he went back to work, so he picked the object up and exclaimed 'holy cow, this thing is heavy!' He brought the object inside and handed it over to a police officer before calling the local airport and informing the FAA, who are investigating what the object is. Donohue said everyone told him to buy a lottery ticket because of his luck, but he joked he may have 'used my luck up.' He said if he was walking back 10 or 15 seconds later, he may have been hit in the head by it. "The 6-7 pound sleeve like object landed at a high velocity approximately 6-8 feet from Capitol Police Screener Craig Donahue who was walking outside the entrance," the state's public safety department said in a news release. "The FAA has launched an investigation while attempting to locate the source of the part which is likely from a large airliner on an international route," the news release said. The FAA issued awareness notifications to flights that were over the area at the time of the incident, officials said in the news release. Read more: Share or comment on this article: All rights reserved for this news site (dailymail) and under his responsibility