Delta to pay millions in lawsuit alleging 15,000 pounds of fuel dumped over homes and schools: 'At least 20 children ... were treated'

Five years after a Delta Air Lines flight dumped 15,000 pounds of jet fuel on a densely populated Los Angeles neighborhood, the company has agreed to pay out nearly $79 million to settle a class action lawsuit brought by those impacted, court documents showed. 

The jet fuel fell onto thousands of properties, including seven schools, the plaintiffs alleged. More than 60 people, including 20 children, required medical attention, and some properties remained covered in jet fuel for weeks after the incident.  

If approved by the court, the settlement, which came after three years of mediation talks, would provide compensation for "hard-working families who asked only for respect and just treatment and rightly deserve this result," said Filippo Marchino, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, according to Reuters.

What's happening?

On January 14, 2020, Delta Flight 89 took off from Los Angeles International Airport en route to Shanghai, China, the lawsuit said. Soon after takeoff, the Boeing 777-200 experienced a problem with one of its engines. 

In response, the plane's pilot decided to return to LAX.

Prior to landing, however, the pilot needed to decide how to address the roughly 15,000 pounds of jet fuel that the plane was carrying for its flight to China. 

Carrying so much excess weight potentially made the aircraft less safe to land and could have caused costly damage to the aircraft. 

"Under the standard operating procedure for such incidents, pilots may dispose of the excess fuel by burning it while flying in circles or by outright dumping it to reduce the weight of the plane before it lands," the lawsuit said. 

However, if a pilot chooses to dump the fuel, they are required to do so at a height of greater than 5,000 feet, over nonpopulated areas, or both, according to the lawsuit. 

Dumping jet fuel from a height of greater than 5,000 feet allows "for the atomization and vaporizing of the fuel in the atmosphere, thereby preventing the fuel from reaching the ground," the lawsuit explained.  

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Additionally, pilots initiating a fuel dump are required to notify air traffic control, so air traffic controllers can warn other planes and prevent them from flying through the atomized jet fuel. 

However, the plaintiffs' lawsuit alleged, the pilot did not follow these protocols, instead dumping the 15,000 pounds of jet fuel over a populated area at an elevation of less than 5,000 feet without notifying air traffic control.

"The airplane traveled approximately 15 miles while it released fuel onto at least 12,000 properties below it," the lawsuit, filed in 2020, claimed. "More than 60 people, including at least 20 children, were treated from seven schools in the area."

While not disputing the factual allegations, Delta pushed back on the alleged impropriety of the pilot's actions. The company argued that its pilots "did exactly what federal regulations and their FAA-approved training required them to do to respond to that in-flight emergency," according to Reuters. 

After three years of mediation, the plaintiffs and Delta reached a settlement agreement under which Delta would pay out $78.75 million. 

Under the proposed settlement, after legal fees and costs, the plaintiffs would be left with roughly $50 million to divide among a plaintiff pool that had grown to include 38,000 property owners, according to Reuters. 

While payouts may vary among individual class members, these figures would mean an average amount of $1,315.79 per plaintiff. 

Under the proposed agreement, which next must be approved by the court, Delta would not be required to admit wrongdoing, per Reuters. 

Why does it matter?

The fuel-dumping incident highlighted once again the enormous toll that air travel takes on public health and the environment, and not always in the ways one might expect. 

Air travel contributes significantly to rising global temperatures by releasing heat-trapping pollution into the atmosphere, but its impacts go well beyond that. 

Short-term exposure to jet fuel can result in skin irritation, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

While the long-term health impacts of jet fuel exposure are less well understood, there is evidence suggesting such exposure can lead to serious problems with the nervous system, the respiratory system, and mental health, as well as kidney and bladder cancer, per the VA. 

Jet fuel also hurts the environment. 

"Aviation fuel … has significant environmental impacts, particularly on vegetation and urban ecosystems near airports," according to a 2024 article posted on LinkedIn. 

What's being done about it?

In order to reduce the public health and environmental impacts of the aviation industry, it is necessary to move away from burning jet fuel and toward cleaner, renewable sources of energy. 

In recent years, researchers have made a number of advancements in developing all-electric aircraft that are powered by batteries rather than jet fuel.

While the transition to electric aircraft or cleaner jet fuel may be years away, in the meantime, you can make a difference by flying coach instead of business or first class.

According to the World Bank, a passenger flying first class is responsible for nine times as much heat-trapping pollution as a passenger flying economy. 

Similarly, you can help the environment and public health by seeking out alternatives to flying, such as taking a train, a bus, or a car, wherever feasible. 

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