Letters to the Editor

Ask the pilot Do airplanes make you fart more? What happened to the dog hair on my suitcase? The pilot lets us in on readers' probing questions. By Patrick Smith [2007-10-26]

• Jettisoning fuel

  The pilot writes: "Planes do not jettison fuel except during emergencies."

  I was on a flight in which our wing-lift thingies were stuck. We could not climb above a certain altitude, and we had to turn back. Instead of jettisoning fuel, though, the plane circled for 4 hours with its landing gear down. Boy was that fun! Finally we landed, with several fire engines and other emergency vehicles racing alongside us till we stopped safely.

  So... Why didn't we jettison the fuel?

  Also, how many others have been in scary situations like this? I've been through at least 3 are-we-going-to-die plane flights. In another one, an entire engine suddenly shot noisy, "foom"-ing flames out the back for several seconds before dying, at which point all the lights went out and the pilot made a dramatic turn back toward our departure point.

  Why do I get the feeling this happens a lot more than we hear about in the news? Are airlines required to publicize the number of near-miss scenarios that occur, and if so, where is such information available?

  -- Xrandadu Hutman
  [Read Xrandadu Hutman's other letters]
  Permalink Flag Thursday, October 25, 2007 09:29 PM
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