Fuel Dump Raises Questions
The FAA says it will “thoroughly investigate” the circumstances of an emergency landing by a Delta 777 at LAX that involved dumping thousands of gallons of fuel over the city. Photos shown by local media and social media suggest the aircraft jettisoned fuel for about six minutes as it set up for an unscheduled landing on January 14. Shortly after takeoff, the crew reported a compressor stall of the right engine. They declared the emergency and asked for priority handling for a landing on Runway 25R. The crew rejected an offer by ATC for a hold to dump fuel and asked to be vectored onto a high downwind for the requested runway but they did not tell ATC that they were dumping fuel as they positioned for landing. On final, they went over an elementary school and about 60 people, including more than 50 children, were hit with fuel. No one was hospitalized.
MAX Certification Was Done Properly
The certification process for the Boeing 737 MAX was generally effective and appropriate but a government advisory committee says reforms are needed to help the “aviation system become even better at identifying and mitigating risk.” The committee was struck by Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao last April after new flight control software in the MAX was implicated the crashes of two MAX aircraft that killed a total of 346 people. Their report recommends closer coordination among the FAA offices engaged in the certification process, aggressive development of the FAA workforce to meet evolving industry needs, continued use and enhancement of the FAA’s system of delegation within the certification process, and clarification and updating of the FAA’s policies with respect to amended type certificates. It also urged the use of safety management systems throughout the industry.
