Jet dumps tons of fuel over Alps

[TallDutch]

Technical problems force the passenger plane to empty part of its fuel load over the Alps after taking off from Milan.

Swiss air traffic controllers guided an Alitalia jet to an area over the Alps where its could jettison 30 tons of fuel after the plane encountered technical difficulties, it emerged this week. The Boeing 763 had just taken off from Milan for a flight to Chicago on Saturday when the pilot realized that a problem with the hydraulic system would force him to turn back. Although the plane was still over Italian soil, the Swiss air control system, Skyguide, was in charge of the area.

The air traffic controllers had to determine a space where the plane could dump its fuel load as a safety precaution. Landing with a full fuel tank increases the chances of an accident. “We also had to attribute an air corridor to the airline so that it could return to Italy,” said Patrick Heer, spokesman for Skyguide.

The jet was authorized to release 30 tons of kerosene over a zone between Mont Blanc and Turin between 12.23 and 12.38 p.m. According to regulations of the Federal Office of Civil Aviation, fuel can only be dropped in an emergency and if the plane is flying at an altitude of at least 1,850 meters.

At this altitude, the fuel evaporates and only 0.1 percent reaches the ground. Skyguide said that this type of incident occurs about five times a year over Swiss airspace. The plane was able to return without further incident to Milan. "The security of the passengers on board was not compromised," said an Alitalia spokesman.

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[Nonstop2AUH]

Last thing Alitalia needs is more bad news. Despite what people say about them, I flew them LHR-LIN and FCO-LHR earlier this summer and found the service to be pretty good. Full beverage service (including decent Italian wine and strong coffee) and an edible sandwich (choice of sandwiches in one case) in economy on a relatively short flight. Not many others do that! Sure hope they can get it together financially...

[mirrodie]

Technical problems force the passenger plane to empty part of its fuel load over the Alps after taking off from Milan.

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I hear there are good ski packages available in the Italian Alps now. :shock: :lol:

[Matt Molnar]

Maybe it's just the translation, but the tone of the story indicates to me that the writer was utterly horrified of the thought of a plane dropping fuel on an unpopulated mountain, and not that a couple hundred people could have died.

[cancidas]

gotham, i agree. that particular writer might not know anything about the practice but dumping fuel still isn't a good thing.

[Derf]

I think dumping fuel is a great thing..... If you are flicking the switch, you are very aware on what it is doing to people and the inviroment. If a Trained Pilot is doing this, there IS a very good reason. In this case Piss on the enviromentolists, Human Saftey is more important. If my wife was on that plane, I would say let them burn my apartment down for an outer marker if it would help!

I saw a 727 depart PHX with the rear cago door open and watched as the #3 engine was down due to luggage injestion. The plane got to about 300-600 feet and was dumping fuel about 1 mile out of the airport....went around Phoenix dumping on all the residents. I had a great time with a few beers and the nightly news watching all the residents pissing and moaning about how a jet almost HIT their house and dumped jetfuel all over and they had to evacuate. When your in the pilots seat, and the sh!t hits the fan....You do what you are trained to do in order to save your a$$.

Nobody wants to dump fuel with todays prices. As for the bad rap the airline gets.. The pilot knows that a little jet fuel is worse than an overrun.

my .02c

[Derf]

"The aircraft is a Miami Air 727 that took off from PHX 1/5/99 on a charter flight
to Nashville full of Tennessee fans from the 1999 Fiesta Bowl.
Anyway, the luggage door came open just after takeoff and they immediately turned around
for an emergency landing at PHX.
As you can see from the high angle of attack the aircraft was not very high and
was "Struggling" to make it back to the airport."

the first picture is when the aircraft was already able to drop most of the fuel it was going to,
at this point he had gained what appears to be 2000 or so feet to my eye, but that is a
guess....earlier he was much MUCH lower and not climbing!
http://www.aviationpics.de/inflight/727fueldump1.jpg

Second shot was a head on from the airport...it looked like the aircraft stopped dumping
about 1 mile out!!!! It was wild! (note, these are not my pictures as I did not have a camera)
http://www.aviationpics.de/inflight/727fueldump2.jpg

I was applauding when he touched down, I was SURE the plane would not make it when I saw it turning in the valley because It could not climb and make it over ANY of the mountains... I thought he was done and was amazed by this struggle. It reminded me of the BA 747 that ran into volcanic ash....Fight till the end.

[hiss srq]

Dumping fuel is a necesity in certain times. I was on a 727 that lostnumber two due to a partailly uncontained when I was youger and we dumped like no other to get light before landing at JFK.

[PhilDernerJr]

I'd love for that to happen over my home, and when a reporter interviews me, I can respond "I'm much happier that I had a little fuel on my place instead of the bodies of a couple hundred people. Fast acting pilots saved the day."

[jakbar]

Fred, those pics are great. Not only do they show the 727 dumping fuel, etc., but they also show a Northwest 747 at PHX. It has been a while since a Northwest 747 has been here. Cool stuff.

Josh