Photos circulating by e-mail purport to show damage to the engine of the Delta Boeing 747 that dumped fuel over Livingston County Oct. 23.
The Daily Press & Argus cannot confirm the photos to be authentic.
Submitted photo
Original article, photos and comments: http://www.livingstondaily.com
Photos circulating on the Internet reportedly of the Delta Boeing 747 jet that dumped an undisclosed amount of fuel Oct. 23 above Livingston County appear to show serious damage to the plane.
The photos were submitted to the Daily Press & Argus by retired Northwest Airlines pilot and Brighton resident Ray Dahl, who said he received the photos through e-mails from friends in his aviation circle. The Daily Press & Argus has not been able to independently confirm the photos are of the plane involved in the incident last week.
Dahl, who flew commercial jets for 39 years, does not question the validity of the photos. He said they highlight just how serious a situation has to be for a jet to dump fuel.
"With the kind of damage that plane had, it would have been foolish for them to continue flying, not knowing what the damage was," said Dahl, who recalled only dumping fuel one time in his entire career.
Before he retired, Dahl regularly flew Boeing 747s. Dahl said the pilots would not have been able to see the plane's exterior damage from the cockpit.
"When jets dump fuel, society generally thinks something is going to die because fuel is going in the air, but it is a very unusual thing for a plane to do," Dahl said. "These photos help people get a further understanding."
Delta Air Lines Inc. spokesperson Anthony Black did not confirm the authenticity of the photos. He indicated Delta would only share internal information with authorized agencies. The paint scheme of the jet in the photos does match that of Delta.
"I'm not saying those could not be legitimate photos, but they are not authorized by us," Black said.
Black added that Delta operates 750,000 flights annually, and he stated that fuel dumping is "a very rare occurrence."
Black also downplayed the dangers of last week's engine malfunction.
"The aircraft was under control at all times," Black said.
On Oct. 23, a Boeing 747-400 containing 392 passengers and a 14-member crew on Flight 275 to Tokyo was forced to dump fuel after an engine malfunction to one of the plane's four engines.
Tony Molinaro, a spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration, said the incident is under investigation.
Fuel dumping occurs when planes need to land for emergency situations and cannot because of excess or imbalanced weight. Instances in which fuel dumping occurs, though rare, must be reported to the FAA.
With this flight, Molinaro said, fuel was probably dumped to equalize the weight of fuel in different engines.
"You want it perfectly balanced if it's heavier than normal when landing," Molinaro said.
The FAA requires fuel dumping to occur as high in flight as possible.
Because of the height and speed at which the plane was moving, Black said the fuel "evaporates" before it would ever hit the ground.
He said there should be "no cause for concern" for individuals below where the fuel was dumped.
"There's a minimum height which the aircraft would go to do a dump or fuel drop — and they do it, it evaporates," Black said.
"With this flight, the fuel basically evaporates on contact with the air," he added.
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