Nov. 7, 2009 (United Press International) -- No one was injured when a 20-pound piece of fiberglass fell from a Delta Boeing (NYSE:BA) 777 flight onto a lawn in Roosevelt, N.Y., officials said.

The cone-shaped part, 3 feet in diameter, fell Thursday night as the plane left JFK airport en route to Japan, said Arlene Salac, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration.

"They didn't notice it in the flight," Salac said.

The part covered the exhaust cone and was not needed for the plane to function, Salac told The New York Daily News in a story published Saturday.

The FAA was investigating how the part dislodged, Salac said.