FUEL DUMPING

I’m sure you must have seen this line drawn on the sky as shown in this picture when an aircraft is flying. I saw it while coming out of my room this evening, then what I read about it sometimes ago flash to my mind, then I chose to pen it down.

While we were younger, we’d call it different names, and I’m sure up till now many don’t know what it’s called or what it means.
Although, I am not an aviation expert, but you can grab some knowledge from this layman writing.

Actually it is called fuel dumping according to aviation terminology.
Usually, aircraft do have a take off and landing weight, and this weight is religiously obeyed.

Usually aircraft do fill their tanks with enough fuel as you know it is quite different from land travels where you can easily refill your tank when running out of fuel.
Fuel dumping occurs when an aircraft is about to make an emergency landing shortly after take off or before reaching its destination and it needed to maintain a landing weight.
Since the pilot can’t afford to throw the cargoes on board away just to maintain the landing weight, it is left with no other option than to dump the fuel in the tank so has to maintain the optima landing weight.

Although, pilots and aircraft companies don’t like fuel dumping, because it incur some level of shortage on them, but they are left with no option than to do it for the safe landing and safety of passengers on board.

When next you see this line being drawn in the sky, just know that an aircraft is trying to make an emergency landing and it is called fuel dumping.

I’m sure most readers are just getting to know about fuel dumping.

Kindly drop what you used to called it or what you thought it was.

Credit: De Collins 2020