Fuel smell

[EDmummy]

It might just be me but as a plane passed overhead a few minutes ago I swear I smelt jet fuel. I know that planes often do jettison fuel before landing but should it be happening over a populated area? On the other hand, it may be another odor entirely.

[jctg]

Are you sure it wasn't that Scotch egg you ate this afternoon?

[Burbage]

It's not just EDmummy. I noticed it too, but wasn't sure what it was.

If it was jettisoned fuel, then it is a serious matter, subject to a number of regulations. The CAA, the airline industry lobby group and regulator, takes it so seriously that it's necessary to submit a Freedom of Information request just so see their legal boilerplate, as evidenced in June.

Alert readers, with a Google of their own, may have noticed the suave mendacity of a certain Jamieson, an erstwhile Transport minister who, in 2003, gave a different answer to much the same question, before stepping down in 2005 to spend more time with a bus company.

Briefly, Jamieson claimed there were only 19 jettisoning incidents in UK airspace from civilian aircraft in 2002, quoting figures from the Mandatory Occurrence Reporting Scheme (run by the CAA), though also stating that it would be absurdly costly and/or impossible to provide any details of the events recorded. The CAA's response, probably inadvertently, possibly indifferently, explains that the Mandatory Occurrence Reporting Scheme isn't very Mandatory, and doesn't apply to fuel jettisoned in 'insignificant' quantities, by mistake or just for fun.

Unnecessary dumping is, in theory, frowned upon and there are fines for offenders. Naturally, they don't get handed out very often, as the infringement has to be reported and investigated and prosecuted and, unless an airline sticks its own hands up, it's presumably next-to-impossible to find the responsible plane. But where someone does get found out, a swingeing fine of ?2,500 can be imposed - considerably more than a bus driver earns in a month and thus a stiff deterrent to any multi-billion pound airline company.

In short, however much it smells, and however many people noticed and however much it may damage the lungs of adults, children, pets and vermin, there's stuff-all we can do about it and nobody cares.

Have a lovely weekend.

[EDmummy]

Thanks Burbage. Do I lodge a complaint with the CAA?

[Rockets]

Was it a London City plane or a Heathrow plane? Fuel is only ever knowingly jettisoned during an emergency situation to reduce weight and only in the most dire emergency is it jettisoned over land. The plane would have had to declare an emergency and would have been given clearance priority. It would be unusual for a plane to jettison fuel on approach given the high risk of fire on landing. There have been cases of fuel tanks being overfilled and then fuel spilling from them.

[EDmummy]

It was a Heathrow plane.