Does fuel dropped from planes really fall on people's heads?

  • May 31, 2021
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Everyone has heard at least once that airplanes during flight, for one reason or another, can discharge fuel. It is not difficult to guess, even without special knowledge, that any such discharge is an emergency, compulsory measure. However, it doesn't get any easier from realizing this. What happens to kerosene? Does he really have every chance of falling on people's heads?

The reset procedure is rarely used. / Photo: vecer.com.
The reset procedure is rarely used. / Photo: vecer.com.
The reset procedure is rarely used. / Photo: vecer.com.

The Boeing 747 has a fuel tank capacity of 198.3 tons of fuel. At the same time, for one hour of flight, the aircraft consumes at least 10.5 tons of fuel. The specificity of the design of any aircraft is such that its mass on takeoff should be greater than at the time of landing. In other words, the allowable take-off weight of any aircraft is always higher than the allowable landing weight. This allows aircraft to be loaded with cargo and passengers "in excess" of the norm. In this case, the required landing mass is achieved due to the banal and obvious thing that most of the fuel will burn out during the flight.

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A reset is made only during an emergency landing in the event of an emergency on board. / Photo: delawareonline.com.
A reset is made only during an emergency landing in the event of an emergency on board. / Photo: delawareonline.com.

Of course, anything happens, and the plane may need an emergency landing due to a technical malfunction or health problems of someone on board. At this point, it may turn out that the mass of the aircraft has not yet reached the permissible landing value. Failure to do so will lead to disaster at the time of landing. This problem is solved in an emergency by dumping fuel. Pilots preliminarily report to the control room about the coordinates, altitude and the fact of the drop. In rare cases, they can be prohibited from this, forcing them to go to a safe area or height.

Takeoff and landing weight are two different things. / Photo: astrakhanfm.ru.
Takeoff and landing weight are two different things. / Photo: astrakhanfm.ru.

Aviation kerosene is an extremely volatile and very light fuel that evaporates quite quickly, especially when dispersed in the air. Most often, the fuel simply does not reach the ground, being evenly sprayed and evaporated in the air. By itself, kerosene does not disappear without a trace. Its vapors will fly across the sky for a long time until they finally settle or fall out with rain or snow on the ground in extremely low concentration. In rare cases, the discharge of kerosene causes the formation of short-term smog. However, do not worry: planes never drop fuel over settlements or agricultural regions.

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Very rarely, kerosene is the cause of smog. / Photo: baigenews.kz.
Very rarely, kerosene is the cause of smog. / Photo: baigenews.kz.

Continuing the topic, read about F4U "Corsair": a powerful fighter of the Second World Warthat the wings could not hold.
A source:
https://novate.ru/blogs/220121/57546/,

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