Airlines Sued for Dumping Fuel on Children

MOSES LOPEZ Staff Writer

At 11:53 a.m. on Tuesday Jan. 14, Delta Airlines Flight 89 doused five elementary schools and one high school in Cudahy, South Gate and Los Angeles with jet fuel. On Friday, Jan. 17, four teachers from Park Avenue Elementary School in Cudahy sued Delta Airlines. According to The Independent, the plane released its fuel through nozzles in the wings as a way to lighten the plane during an emergency landing back to Los Angeles International Airport.

 “Delta Airlines deserves to be sued for endangering the health of so many children, an event that could have easily been avoided,” Freshman Michelle Tanjaya said. 

The plane took off but had to take an emergency landing due to engine trouble. According to the lawsuit, the plane did not inform the air traffic control personnel to release the fuel. The pilot of Delta Flight 89 was accused of negligence for not following procedures when dumping thousands of pounds of fuel.