Delta emergency @ LAX, dumps fuel on school playground.
Doesn't the system stop without any crew action once a certain amount is dumped?
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But if the "certain amount dumped" was intended to get down to MLW, it's hard to see that being achieved by dumping for only 15 minutes.
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Almost 4 years on, did we ever understand why this Delta aircraft ended up dumping fuel in the manner it did? (Telling ATC they didnt need to, then doing it anyway over a built up area in busy airspace).
Last edited by CW247; 29th Dec 2023 at 19:32.
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Correct, and if you think about it; dumping fuel on a 747 would reduce your aircraft weight by about 2 tons per minute provided there is fuel in the centre tank. (without centre tank fuel that rate will be a lot less). So you would lose only a bit more than 1% of weight per minute on a MTOW 747. Aerodynamically not much will happen unless you have plenty of time to dump and lose at least, let's say 10% of your aircraft weight...
Nearly sixty years ago, whilst gliding at RAF Swanton Morley (UK), a Handley-Page Victor dumped fuel all over the gliding circuit traffic on approach to (probably) Coningsby. Six gliders in the air, two crew per hull, open cockpit. Dozen more cadets and RAF personnel on the ground.
Our uniforms reeked of kerosene and our eyes stung a bit, but the CO of the RAF gliding school went apesh*t because, apparently, Jet A1 is an excellent solvent for the glue holding the fabric of our gliders (Slingsby T31, IIRC) together.
Pretty sure the Officer Commanding RAF Coningsby would have heard him from circuit height, across the Wash.
Anyway, I have never had any health issues as a result of that one-off dousing, and don't know of anyone who was there that day that did. So probably not the end of the world for the kiddies that caught a whiff of the good stuff that reached the ground. It's not like it's an everyday occurrence.
Our uniforms reeked of kerosene and our eyes stung a bit, but the CO of the RAF gliding school went apesh*t because, apparently, Jet A1 is an excellent solvent for the glue holding the fabric of our gliders (Slingsby T31, IIRC) together.
Pretty sure the Officer Commanding RAF Coningsby would have heard him from circuit height, across the Wash.
Anyway, I have never had any health issues as a result of that one-off dousing, and don't know of anyone who was there that day that did. So probably not the end of the world for the kiddies that caught a whiff of the good stuff that reached the ground. It's not like it's an everyday occurrence.