http://www.thewest.com.au/default.as...ontentID=24657

Flaming space junk narrowly misses jet

28th March 2007, 11:15 WST


Pieces of space junk from a Russian satellite coming out of orbit narrowly
missed hitting a jetliner over the Pacific Ocean overnight.


The pilot of a Lan Chile Airbus A340, which was travelling between Santiago,
Chile, and Auckland, New Zealand, notified air traffic controllers at
Auckland Oceanic Centre after seeing flaming space junk hurtling across the
sky just five nautical miles in front of and behind his plane about 10pm
last night.

According to a plane spotter, who was tuning into a high frequency radio
broadcast at the time, the pilot "reported that the rumbling noise from the
space debris could be heard over the noise of the aircraft.

More at link above.