On Tuesday morning, Jan. 14, a Delta flight returning to Los Angeles International Airport dumped a major amount of jet fuel from their airplane, 'accidentally' hitting several schools of toxic wastes brought by the fuel in the Los Angeles area.
Officials say that an exact number of 60 people were reportedly injured, and over 20 from this population were elementary students from various schools.
'We Thought it was Rain'
Approximately 20 children and 11 adults at Park Avenue Elementary School and other several victims from San Gabriel Avenue Elementary in South Gate, Jordan High and 93rd Street Elementary in South Los Angeles, Graham Elementary in Inglewood, and Tweedy Elementary in South Gate -- all located in Cudahy, California-- were all treated on their minor injuries experienced due to the dumped engine fuel.
Luckily, no victim was needed to be taken to a hospital; however, most of them complained of skin and eye irritation after the engine fuel touched their bodies.
As narrated by sixth-grader Miguel Cervantes-- one of the young victims of the said accident, he was outside of school as he participates for physical education class when suddenly an airplane started to get near to them and dropped liquid-like on their playground.
"I saw an airplane, and I thought the smoke was coming out," Miguel said. "Then, when it got closer, I knew it was gas because a little bit fell on me."
Josue Burgos-- one of Miguel's classmates, thought that rain was pouring outside when they felt water falling to their skin, though they immediately recognized it as gas since it smelled awful.
"We came out, and we were playing, and the airplane was outside, and we thought it was rain, but then we knew it was throwing gas on us, and everybody started to run," Josue said.
Delta Flight Returns to LA Due to 'Engine Issue'
According to Los Angeles Times that first reported the issue, Delta Flight 89 or a Boeing 777 aircraft is scheduled to en route to Shanghai, China, but then, experienced 'engine issue' that forces the pilots to return to the nearest airport, which was LAX.
As explained, the pilots of the aircraft received a notification that a possible compressor stall affects the right engine of the aircraft, making them radioed air traffic control to emergency land. However, what's wrong with this action is that the pilot dumped all engine wastes to a populated place instead of over water.
Ross Aimer, the chief executive officer of Aero Consulting Experts, explained that engine dumping is a critical action to do and only used for emergencies.
"When pilots dump fuel, they typically try to do it at above 10,000 feet and over water, but ideally, it should be done at higher elevation because then the fuel turns into mist and it's away from populated areas," added by him.
Delta Flight Confirms the Said Engine Dumping
Delta flight immediately released a statement regarding the issue and confirmed that their aircraft was the one that dumped fuels on the parts of elementary schools.
"We are concerned about reports of impacts on the ground from the fuel release and are in close communication with Delta and first responders as their investigators continue. We thank LA County Fire, the LA Fire Department, and other responding agencies for their fast response, and we are working on learning more."
At the same time, the 149 onboard passengers of the said flight safely and successfully landed at LAX after the incident.
As of now, the Federal Aviation Administration or FAA is still investigating the incident and clarified that they will look further on the reports since a lot of children were injured due to the failed emergency engine dump.
