Here's the Allred press conference about the lawsuit against Delta.
She makes the 'thousands of pounds a second' assertion at about 3:10 into the recording. Obviously a mis-statement but will probably not be fact checked by the sympathetic media audience.
There are repeated mentions of 'the pilot' and she seems to infer that he intentionally dumped fuel without notifying ATC. Our lawyers and sea lawyers can parse the language that she uses to infer liability in this regrettable incident.
Is this the classic shakedown in the media to force a quick settlement and put the bad publicity to bed? Or in a progressive California court environment would Delta be able to drag this out with endless motions and avoid a trial with teachers and tissues and expert witnesses on the health hazards of unburned aerosol hydrocarbons?
I presume this case could also go to U.S. District Court under diversity jurisdiction rules.
Would 'the pilot' have personal liability if he was acting in accordance with his job duties and not 'on a frolic of his own' as the FAA lawyer commented about the Northwest pilots who overflew MSP years ago and had their tickets pulled?