Airplane declaring an emergency dumps fuel that lands on a school playground.

Personally, I'm glad they dumped the fuel to be on the safe side and that no family has to go through what my family has had to in the last 21 months.
 
It's getting more interesting.

“The question investigators are going to ask is that if you’re going to dump fuel, why didn’t you advise air traffic control, and why didn’t you go where fuel dumping is approved, which would not be over a highly populated area,” Cox said. “If you had an on-board fire or something like that, it makes absolute sense to do that. But this was not that case.”​
The crew of Delta Flight 89 did not inform air traffic control that they were going to dump fuel, according to a review of communications, the Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday. Typically, air traffic controllers direct planes to appropriate fuel-dumping areas, the agency said in a statement.​
"I'm just puzzled why these folks decided to do it this way, "said Ross Aimer, a retired United Airlines pilot and CEO of Aero Consulting Experts.​
The engine malfunction was described as compressor stall, similar to a carburetor popping in a car with a backfire and loud bang, maybe even a small fire, but it's not a dire emergency, Aimer said.​
"Even with this malfunction, it's surprising to me why the crew didn’t inform air traffic control of their intent to drop fuel, he said. "They had the time."​
Aimer said another option could have been to land the plane heavy, which is safe in certain situations.​
"It's not a big deal to land with heavy weight, and in this case it would have been fine because they had good weather along with a long and dry runway," he said. "Most of us would have just landed heavy because the airplane could sustain with one engine."​
When planes land heavy, they must undergo an extra inspection to assess any damage, he said, adding it would not endanger passengers.​
“It seems right now that they made a mistake,” he said. “I don’t know why they were in such a hurry because it appears this was not a type of emergency where you needed to get down immediately.”​
Aimer said the airline and pilots could face punishment, including fines or being ordered back to flight school, in addition to potential lawsuits from victims.​

Here's another one:

However, compressor stalls are relatively common and aren’t typically considered a dire emergency that would necessitate an immediate landing, according to safety expert and aviation consultant Robert Ditchey.​
The Boeing 777 is ETOPS-certified, an acronym used in aviation signifying “extended operations,” which means the two-engine aircraft can fly an extended duration on one engine, Ditchey said. That would suggest there was no immediate urgency to land, he said, per Boeing and FAA standards.​
Still, the decision to return to LAX prompted the question from the control tower about dumping fuel. Whether the instruction to release the fuel came from air traffic control or Delta, the ultimate decision-maker would be the pilot, who would have been aware he was flying over a residential area rather than the ocean or other unpopulated area, Ditchey said.​
“Dumping is literally a toggle switch. How much fuel you dump is a decision that the captain or Delta Airlines Operations Control would discuss,” he said.​
At one point in the audio communications, the pilot tells ground control that 181 people, including crew members, are aboard the plane. According to Seat Guru, a site that tracks the layout of planes, that number would have meant the flight was about two-thirds full.​
If that was the case, Ditchey said, it would suggest that a decrease in weight would not have been a major issue because the plane was not at maximum capacity.​
 


Since you like articles...
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...-dumps-fuel-expert-defends-pilots/4476137002/
Goelz said every pilot knows the story of Swissair Flight 111, a Geneva-bound MD-11 out of New York that plummeted into the Atlantic Ocean off Nova Scotia on Sept. 2, 1998. None of the 229 people aboard survived. The crew had called in an emergency but was flying away from an airport so it could dump fuel over water when it crashed.

"The aircraft landed safely after a release of fuel, which was required as part of normal procedure to reach a safe landing weight," Delta said.
Bolding mine.
 
Also, since you like articles, I'd like to discuss your aviation "expert" and consultant.

First, ATC would never tell you to dump fuel. While on the subject of ATC, the 7110.65 which is publicly available, is basically the bible of ATC. 7110.65 9-4-2 states "Except when it is dumping fuel for emergency reasons, an aircraft in either VFR or IFR conditions may be requested to fly a different route." Also, they would not be talking to the control tower or "ground control" -- ground control is a specific position within a control tower used to talk to people who are actually on the ground and the tower itself does not talk to anyone unless they are on final or have just taken off and then immediately switch them to someone else.

Also, he suggests a decrease in weight would not have been a major issue because the plane was not at maximum capacity. Let's think about this. The 777-2000ER has a maximum takeoff weight of about 650,000lbs. The maximum landing weight is about 470,000 pounds. This was going to be a long flight, you can assume that it probably wasn't at maximum but it obviously wasn't near minimum.

A passenger during winter is usually counted as 180 pounds. If it's missing 100 people then that's 18,000 pounds.

This is why he's a "consultant" and an "expert" on the ground talking to reporters instead of making actual decisions.
 

Swissair 111 was on fire. As in smoke reported in the cockpit before they requested the fuel dump.

Dumping fuel at 2200 ft on final approach is not normal procedure. There’s a reason why so many in the industry are questioning the decision. Landing overweight is acceptable and Boeing says there’s never been been a bad result from it. Certainly in the ATC chatter the controller didn’t question why they were landing without dumping fuel. ATC didn’t even know they were doing it.
 


This is why he's a "consultant" and an "expert" on the ground talking to reporters instead of making actual decisions.

Many of these consultants are current or former pilots. Chelsey Sullenberger ran a consulting business on the side, but managed to make a pretty important decision in the air.
 
This one is clearly not. And once the controller asked if he's going to dump and the answer is "no" then there is no reason to question him. It would be a waste of time question. Why no? Because he said so. End of discussion.

But carry on. I'll get out of your way again.
 
Do you ever see them LAND in the other direction? I haven't.

Actually, I believe I have. I used to swim at the Y in Newport Beach that is right under the normal take off flight path. One knows when a plane takes off because it is super loud at the pool. I have watched them coming in over the Y to land and it is so much quieter than on the take off.
 
This one is clearly not. And once the controller asked if he's going to dump and the answer is "no" then there is no reason to question him. It would be a waste of time question. Why no? Because he said so. End of discussion.

But carry on. I'll get out of your way again.

Which one. Robert Ditchey?

https://www.ditchey.com/Mr Ditchey is broadly and highly experienced. He is a graduate of the US Naval Academy at Annapolis and was a Navy pilot who flew actively in the US Navy for more than 14 years. An engineer, he holds two advanced degrees in aeronautical engineering. He was a senior airline executive at four different major US Airlines, holding positions in maintenance and flight operations. He has consulted for airlines, insurance companies, banks and aviation parts manufacturers. And, he is one of the original founders of America West Airlines, which through mergers and acquisitions has become American Airlines, America's largest airline.

Ross Aimer?

http://www.aeroconsultingexperts.com/team-index#meet-teamCaptain Ross “Rusty” Aimer is the CEO of Aero Consulting Experts and perhaps the most experienced pilot in the world still flying today. His distinguished career includes piloting the Shah of Iran and two former Russian presidents.

Captain Aimer has appeared on nearly every major news network in the U.S. and abroad, including ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, CNBC, MSNBC, CBC, BBC, SKY News, Press TV, Al Jazeera, Chanel News Asia, along with countless print and radio.

With over 53 years and 33,000 hours of worldwide heavy jet flight and training experience, he is type rated on B-787*/B-777/B-767/B-757/B-747/B-737/B-727/B-720/B-707/DC-10/DC-9/DC-8/EMB-500.

Ross retired from United Airlines as a wide body Captain after a 40 year distinguished airline carrier that started with TWA. He was then hired at Boeing as the first cadre of 787/777 Training Captains, and has been flying the sleek Phenom Jet for the past 6 years, after his retirement from Boeing.

Captain Aimer has a degree in Aerospace Engineering and FAA A&P Mechanic qualified.


I did cut off John Cox.

http://www.safeopsys.com/staff/captain-john-m-cox/
 
jet-fuel-release-jan17-2020.pdf
 

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