Japanese jet dumps fuel into Lake Michigan

An All Nippon Airways Boeing 777-300ER had to dump about 1,450 gallons of jet fuel into Lake Michigan on Monday after it developed a problem after takeoff from Chicago O'Hare. Elizabeth Isham Cory, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said the aircraft sustained what could have been a birdstrike and subsequent engine failure. In order to land back at Chicago without being overweight, the widebody had to jettison what turned out to be about 4% of it's fuel load. To avoid doing this over the populated suburbs surrounding Chicago, the flight crew swung the aircraft out over Lake Michigan and did their business. Cory said that "when fuel is dumped above 5,000 feet, in temperatures above freezing, about 98 percent of it can be expected to evaporate before hitting the ground." That means the friendly fish of Lake Michigan will only have to share the waters with about 32 gallons of Jet A. Still, I'm thinking their may be some enviro-nuts who aren't too happy about this.

(via Chicago Tribune)

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