Woman Claims She Was Burned When Jet Fuel Fell From Sky

[matcom]

<snip>

TAMPA, Fla. -- A woman who lives four miles south of Tampa International Airport claimed she was sprayed by fueled dumped from a jet flying low over her neighborhood.

The accusation was denied by both airport and federal officials.

Vicki Morris, 51, a real estate agent, said she was on her daily walk Monday night when the alleged incident occurred. She said she heard a whooshing sound, consistent with a plane hovering overhead, and then felt a mist accompanied by a strong fuel odor.

"It was like someone had poured kerosene to start a fire," said Morris, who said she had difficulty breathing and experienced tingling of her skin and scalp after the incident.

Airport spokeswoman Brenda Geoghagan said there was no emergency that would have forced a jet to dump its fuel Monday night, and Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen concurred.

"There was no emergency declared and no authorized dumping of fuel" in the area of Morris' claim, Bergen said.

Morris said she went through three bottles of air freshener while battling the scent, which was still slightly detectable in her neighborhood early Tuesday.

http://www.wftv.com/irresistible/4309928/detail.html

[BigMcLargehuge]

1. uh oh, it wasn't a jet chartered by the Dave Matthews band or anything...

was it?

"Hey, this jetfuel is blue, and clumpy!!!"

[Orsino]

2. "...a whooshing sound, consistent with a plane hovering overhead..."

Try again.

[Rabrrrrrr]

3. What, you don't have planes hovering around your place?

They hover all the time here. And they make an unmistakable "whoosh" sound when they hover.

In fact, I've been able to reach up and touch some of them, that's how close they hover.

To say nothing of the fuel they then dump on me.

[MrModerate]

4. I hate it when that happens . . .

Maybe she can sue for the cost of three bottles of air freshener. Or maybe he neighbors can sue HER for polluting THEIR air.

Seriously, where do these people come from, and how can we stop them from coming from there?

[Rabrrrrrr]

6. Yeah, there's gotta be some way to lock that damn door

and keep them in whatever alternative reality is sending them here.

Buncha psychos and weirdos.

"Took me three bottles of air freshener".

Well, did you consider taking a fucking shower, perhaps? Washing your clothes, perhaps?!

[mcscajun]

5. Yes, the first thing I do after being 'sprayed with jet fuel'

is run to my closet and get out the air freshener.

Uh-huh.

Just by chance, I read "Ask the Pilot" in Salon.com earlier this week, and he mentioned the procedures for 'dumping fuel', and went on to say:

"From the flight deck, there's no indication of the offload other than the lazily unwinding digits on the quantity gauges. There's nothing to see from the window, though it was hard not to imagine a certain caricature -- that of a hapless plane with a huge contrail of dollar bills furrowing behind it. (Small change for an airline, overall, and the spray would dissipate and evaporate long before reaching the ground, but the experience of dumping fuel, I learned, just feels wrong on every level.)"

http://www.salon.com/tech/col/smith/2005/03/18/askthepilot128/index1.html