TX - Jet dumps fuel over neighborhoods near DFW

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Feb. 12, 2001, 10:19AM

TX = 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


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