Delta Air Lines has reportedly agreed to pay $78.75 million to settle a lawsuit over a 2020 fuel dump that rained down on homes, schools and children playing outside in Los Angeles County and surrounding areas.
According to a report by Reuters, Delta denied wrongdoing and said it settled to avoid the uncertainty, distraction and cost of litigation.
The plaintiffs, supported by several teachers and students, claimed Delta “unnecessarily dumped fuel at a low altitude over densely-populated areas,” causing harm and wreckage which they believe could have been avoided by dumping fuel over the Pacific Ocean or at a higher altitude.
Delta Flight 89
The incident happened on Jan. 14, 2020, when, shortly after takeoff, a Delta flight en route to Shanghai “lost thrust” and had to return to LAX due to an engine issue.
While making its emergency return, Delta Flight 89 dumped up to 15,000 gallons of fuel over densely populated areas, hitting cities and schools, around 11:47 a.m. that day.
“The aircraft landed safely after a release of fuel, which was required as part of normal procedure to reach a safe landing weight,” read part of a statement sent out by Delta later that day. The flight carried about 167 passengers and crew aboard a Boeing 777 – an aircraft that was approximately 20 years old at the time and made daily flights from L.A. to Shanghai, according to the L.A. Times.
An estimated 60 patients, with at least 20 of them children, suffered minor injuries or other complaints.
“We thought it was rain”
The L.A. County Fire Department responded to a call from Park Avenue Elementary School in Cudahy just before noon for reports of 31 patients suffering minor injuries after fuel fell onto the school playground. LACoFD sent 70 firefighters and paramedics to treat patients on the campus, which is located about 14 miles east of LAX.
Then-sixth grader Josue Burgos, an 11-year-old attending the elementary school at the time, told the L.A. Times that he was outside in P.E. class when he was surprised to feel the sensation of rain.
“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. “We went to the auditorium and we knew what happened. We went back to class. We stayed for one hour and then we went home.”
In addition to Josue’s school, county fire crews treated six patients each at San Gabriel Avenue and Tweedy elementary schools in South Gate and one patient at Graham Elementary in Florence-Graham. The Los Angeles Fire Department also responded to Jordan High in Florence-Firestone and 93rd Street Elementary in Green Meadows, where 16 people were treated for minor injuries. In Downey, the city Fire Department evaluated seven patients with minor injuries at Gallatin preschool.
Although none of the patients were transported to hospitals, students complained of having itchy skin and eyes and sore throats. Some told KTLA the incident led to confusion and fear around the campus, and several people also complained of the fuel’s noxious odor in the aftermath.
L.A. County teachers, high school students file lawsuit
At least four teachers and three students filed lawsuits against Delta Air Lines following the fuel dump, claiming injury and emotional distress from the incident.
At a news conference, the four Park Avenue Elementary teachers described the fuel as drizzling down like raindrops with “overwhelming” fumes. They said their panicked students screamed and cried, the AP reported.
“The plaintiffs could feel the fuel on their clothes, their flesh, their eyes and their skin,” said the teachers’ attorney, Gloria Allred, who noted that her firm may add teachers or students to the lawsuit. “Fuel penetrated their mouths and noses as well, producing a lasting and severe irritation, and a lasting and a noxious taste and smell.”
The three Pioneer High School students filed the second lawsuit against Delta for this incident, saying they suffered skin irritation, nausea and emotional distress after they were exposed to the jet fuel. They accused Delta of being negligent and sought compensation for emotional distress as well as medical and attorney fees, according to the Times.
The settlement
Delta officials reportedly said the flight crew did “exactly what federal regulations and their FAA-approved training required them to do” in that case scenario, and added that a Federal Aviation Administration investigation later cleared the pilots of wrongdoing.
The net settlement, after legal fees and costs, may total $50.6 million and be distributed to owners or residents of an estimated 38,000 properties, Reuters reported.
“Filippo Marchino, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, in a statement said the settlement was fair and reasonable, and would compensate ‘hard-working families who asked only for respect and just treatment and rightly deserve this result,’” the report concluded.
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