Plane dumps fuel over Los Angeles schools on groups of children
An airliner with engine trouble dumped jet fuel that fell as a smelly mist on dozens of schoolchildren while the plane made an emergency return to Los Angeles International Airport, officials said.
The fuel, described by fire officials as a vapour, caused minor skin and lung irritation to 56 children and adults. However, officials said nobody was taken to the hospital and the only decontamination required was soap and water.
Delta Air Lines Flight 89 to Shanghai reported an engine problem only minutes after take-off.
“Delta 89, heavy, we have engine compressor stalls on the right engine,” the pilot reported to air traffic control, according to a recording of the radio conversation.
A stall, which can be caused by damage to a turbine, either from a malfunction or sometimes by a bird striking the engine, reduces the engine thrust. The pilot was asked whether he wanted to keep the aircraft over the ocean to dump fuel, but declined, although it appears he may have changed his mind later about whether the plane could safely land weighing as much as it did. The fuel sprayed out of the plane in two lines and descended at midday in the city of Cudahy and nearby parts of Los Angeles County, about 13 miles east of the airport.
The mist fell on five elementary schools, but all injuries were minor and there were not any evacuations, Los Angeles County Fire Department Inspector Sky Cornell said.
“That’s a great sign,” Mr Cornell said. All the fuel evaporated very quickly and nothing flammable remained in the air or on the ground, he said.
Diego Martinez, a sixthgrader at Park Avenue Elementary in Cuday, said he and his classmates were outside for physical education class when they saw the airplane flying low overhead. “It was very close,” he said. Shortly afterward, the air filled with the pungent odour of fuel. “It was very strong, the odour,” the 12-year-old said.
Diego wasn’t doused, but some of his friends complained their skin was itching.
Some teachers at Park Avenue had headaches from the smell, said Antonio Buenabad, area representative for the United Teachers Los Angeles union.
“They were anxious to get home and shower because the stench was very strong,” he said of the teachers.
Delta Air Lines said the aircraft landed safely after releasing fuel.
The Flightaware website’s flight track showed the jet took off over the ocean and made an immediate right turn toward land and circled back over Southern California to approach the airport from the east. The Federal Aviation Administration said it was investigating and added: “Procedures call for fuel to be dumped over designated unpopulated areas.”