Delta Flight 89 was forced to dump jet fuel during an emergency landing at Los Angeles’ LAX airport when it rained down on children at Cudahy elementary school. Reports say around 30 children have complained of skin irritation after the plane dumped fuel over the playground at the school.
In a statement on Twitter, LA County Fire Department said: “Elementary school assessing multiple patients after apparent fuel dump by aircraft on final approach to LAX hits playground.”
The Los Angeles County Fire Department said that more than 70 firefighters and paramedics are at the school assessing multiple patients. Los Angeles City Fire is also at the scene.
Seventeen children and six adults are all complaining of minor injuries, L.A. County Fire Department said.
LA City Fire spokesperson Nicholas Prange said two classes were outside when the liquid rained down shortly before noon. Students and staff were instructed to go indoors and remain there for the time being.
The LA Fire Dept later added: “All minor injuries with no transports to local hospital from school.”
There were no evacuation orders for the immediate area as the substance was confirmed as jet fuel.
It is believed that the plane had mechanical issues before it was forced to turn around.
In a statement, Los Angeles International Airport said a Delta flight heading for Shanghai was taking off when it experienced a malfunction and turned back.
While this may surprise you, it’s not the least bit uncommon for jets to descend at what a pilot calls ‘flight idle,’ with the engines run back to a zero-thrust condition,” wrote Smith.
“They’re still operating and powering crucial systems but proving no push.
“You’ve been gliding many times without knowing it. It happens on just about every flight.
“Obviously an idle-thrust glide is different from the engines quitting outright, but even then, the glide itself would be no different.”