Three Pioneer High School students took action recently when they filed a lawsuit against Delta Air Lines. The suit stems from the Jan. 14 incident when Delta Flight 89 dumped about 15,000 gallons of jet fuel over a wide-spread area, including the Whittier high school.
The affected areas were mostly in southeast Los Angeles, including South Los Angeles, Cudahy, Whittier, South Gate and Downey.
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The unidentified students suffered from numerous injuries including skin irritation, nausea and emotional distress due to the incident that also precipitated another lawsuit. The students’ lawsuit accuses Delta of negligence and the students are wanting compensation for medical, distress and attorney fees.
Authorities treated about 60 people total, which included 20 students and 11 adults from Park Avenue Elementary School in Cudahy.
The plane, bound for Shanghai, aborted its flight after only a few minutes of air time, according to news reports. After dumping the fuel, it made an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport.
Typically, if pilots need to dump fuel, it’s over water. In this case, the pilot allegedly declined the need to dump fuel, but a short time later the fuel landed in southeast LA neighborhoods, according to news reports.
The lawsuit contends that the pilots didn’t tell the air traffic controllers of the need to dump the fuel.
Last month, teachers with the Los Angeles School District sued Delta Air Lines. They allege in the suit that jet fuel landed on the clothes, arms and faces of three elementary teachers.