TX - Jet dumps fuel over neighborhoods near DFWgreenspun.com : LUSENET : Grassroots Information Coordination Center (GICC) : One Thread |
Feb. 12, 2001, 10:19AMTX = Jet dumps fuel over neighborhoods near DFW Associated Press
FLOWER MOUND -- It's raining jet fuel near Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, and some residents have decided the precipitation is unwelcome.
The latest dumping came Saturday when the crew of American Airlines Flight 157 saw a warning light and began to release fuel. The plane later made an emergency landing.
Fuel had to be dumped to ensure a safe landing, said American spokesman Gus Whitcomb.
But he said jet fuel dumping is not dangerous because most of the chemicals dissipate in the atmosphere.
The mother of 4-year-old Jacob Harrison isn't so sure. Jacob was playing by himself in his backyard Saturday when the fuel began falling.
"He was literally damp. He had a coat and a hat on. He was damp from the falling of it," said Flower Mound resident Missi Harrison.
As she watched in front of the house with a friend, "the jet fuel was literally sprinkling like rain."
So Harrison immediately removed Jacob's coat and hat, then gave her son a bath. Her friend Michelle Phipps, a former military helicopter crew member from Lewisville, knew the smell.
The residents, who can't predict a jet fuel downpour, are worried about others that have undoubtedly occurred in a busy air traffic area.
"The whole thing was, it was very scary wondering why all the fuel was falling from the sky. I just felt very vulnerable," said Harrison.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/metropolitan/820333
-- Doris (nocents@bellsouth.net), February 15, 2001