Few people know, however, planes periodically discharge fuel right during the flight. Having learned this peculiarity of the operation of flying machines, each person will ask at least two questions. The first is whether the kerosene reaches the surface of the earth after being dropped from tanks right in the sky. The second is why planes have to dump precious fuel at all. We will try to answer both of these questions.
Why dump kerosene at all
Kerosene is not dumped during every flight. This procedure is quite rare and is considered an emergency. It is implemented to ensure the safety of the aircraft and its passengers. In order to understand what is the essence, one should first mention such important concepts in aviation as "maximum takeoff weight" and "maximum landing weight". It is easy to guess that if these figures are exceeded, then the plane will not be able to safely land or take off.
The thing is that the maximum take-off weight of any aircraft is always higher than the maximum landing weight. There is actually nothing strange in this, because in addition to the aircraft itself, passengers, cargo and, of course, fuel are added to the mass parameter. Most passenger airliners, going to the sky, weigh an order of magnitude more than they should weigh at the time of landing. The necessary mass is lost in flight not due to the passengers thrown overboard, but due to the burnt kerosene.
The route of the aircraft is drawn up in such a way that at maximum load during the flight, enough fuel can be burned, and the weight of the aircraft returns to normal before landing. Of course, anything can happen in life: problems at airports, breakdowns in airplanes, sudden changes in weather and other accidents. In any of these (and many others) situations, the liner may be forced to leave the previously planned route and land earlier. Accordingly, in such a situation, its mass does not have time to reach the landing values and in this situation the team decides to discharge the fuel.
How safe is the discharge of kerosene
Kerosene is an exceptional fuel. The energy return that is obtained in the engine as a result of the combustion of kerosene is ten times higher than that in any other alternative engines. At the same time, kerosene is quite different from gasoline. First of all, because it evaporates much worse. Discharging kerosene in the sky allows some of the fuel to evaporate, however, with a fairly high degree of probability, something will still fly to the ground.
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It is for this reason that pilots try to dump kerosene at the highest possible height. In this case, the cloud of kerosene breaks up into small droplets, which makes it possible to reduce the damage to the environment to virtually zero.
Much more important is the fact that the discharge of kerosene is still an emergency measure. Before taking such a step, pilots must contact the control room and request permission. This is done not so much out of concern for the environment as out of safety issues. The fact is that the kerosene cloud will remain in the sky for some time, and dispatchers must make sure that other aircraft do not fall into it. Failure to do so may result in a car crash.
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It is also important that not all aircraft are equipped with a kerosene discharge system right in flight. In such a situation, the aircraft will wind circles around the airport in order to burn fuel and equalize the airborne mass to the desired parameter. Moreover, even if the plane is equipped with such a system and nothing threatens it at the moment, then most likely the dispatchers will not give permission for an emergency reset and will send the plane to circle.
Do you want to know even more interesting things? Then be sure to read about why it is forbidden to carry liquid on board the aircraft, and what other similar prohibitions apply in our time.
A source: https://novate.ru/blogs/251219/52847/