A plane created such a powerful whirlwind as it passed over homes in Hounslow that tiles were sent crashing from a roof in another Heathrow 'vortex' incident.

Rafat Saeed, of Midsummer Avenue, was in the bathroom taking his medicine last Sunday at 7am when he claims he heard a large bang and felt the house shake.

"It sounded like a bomb had gone off and I was really shaken for the next couple of days," said the 67-year-old. "The tiles on the roof were loosened, some of the tiles in the shower fell off and I can no longer open the sliding door to my bedroom."

Vortexes are mini whirlwinds caused by aircraft, which damage the roofs of about 90 homes around Heathrow every year. In July elderly residents of Percy Bilton Court, in Skinners Lane, were luckyto be left unhurt after the heavy terractota tiles slid from awalkway's roof as a plane flew overhead.

Airports operator BAA paid for Mr Saeed's roof to be repaired but insists it would have been impossible for a plane to have caused the damage to his shower or door.

A company spokesman said the impact was not directly caused by a vortex, but by a tile sent flying when a nearby roof was hit by one of the whirlwinds.
BAA runs a £15million scheme to repair roofs affected by vortexes and protect them from future harm.

If you believe your property has been struck by a vortex, call BAA's hotline on 020 8745 7930, or 07860 323 816 outside office hours.