still circling - Josh Haley

An American Airlines flight - Josh Haley

Josh, any word on what caused the damage? - FFing Enigma (aka Tina)

Tina - no audio yet. still trying to configure to get audio. no tv nearby. was hoping someone else could feed some info. :p - Josh Haley

Yikes - Jordan Hofker

No Likey - Charlie Anzman

not good! - Her Lindsay-ness

Blown tire right at takeoff - Josh Haley

lets hope The Luck is still with pilots - A.T.

Oops. Good luck to the flight crew (and passengers!). - Chris Baskind

I'm assuming resulting debris caused external damage which resulted in some torn fuel lines? Or is it possible the leak is break fluid and not fuel? - FFing Enigma (aka Tina)

@SB - they intentionally dump the fuel so there's less risk of the plan catching fire when it lands (if it lands hard!). - Her Lindsay-ness

2 AA flights just landed, but neither looked like it was the one with the problem. Still waiting. - Josh Haley

wait, here comes the firetruck - Josh Haley

Just landed. On MSNBC right now. - Mark Trapp

Whew - perfect landing. - Internet's Tad

Looks like it made it OK. It is sitting on the runway with service vehicles attending. A guy in a firesuit approaches. - Josh Haley

Thanks for the info, Lindsay. With that said: WTH kinda policy is that? No wonder we have wildfire issues in this country =/ Seems like they could have a system in place that would move the fuel to parachuted bladders of some sort and jettison those. - FFing Enigma (aka Tina)

You may now resume chroming - Josh Haley

Tina - the general thinking is that the lives of 135 humans is worth a LOT more than any environmental damage done by the fuel. I totally agree. I'd burn a huge forest down to save a person. - Internet's Tad

For some reason (maybe the way you said it) I don't agree with you Tad. - Lindsey is Fierce!

But Tad, how many people are dying each year in those forest fires? Not to mention the insurance costs, etc. Seems like an emergency bladder system would be a viable (not to mention relatively low cost) alternative. - FFing Enigma (aka Tina)

I would think that most of the fuel probably evaporates before it even hits the ground... and the rest is so distributed that the next rain would dispose of it. - Her Lindsay-ness

@Lindsay I don't think that's true =/ - Lindsey is Fierce!

On behalf of the Green press, please allow me to grant a fuel dumping offset to the distressed plane. The environmental damage is far offset by the benefit. Unfortunate, but necessary. - Chris Baskind

"Once released, the fuel trails behind the aircraft and creates a pattern that looks much like a contrail. Modern aviation fuel comes in many varieties but all are derivatives of kerosene. Kerosene evaporates rapidly in the atmosphere and very little typically survives in liquid form to reach the Earth's surface. The exact evaporative characteristics of dumped fuel depends on a number of factors like the altitude at which it was released, the atmospheric temperature, and the dumping pressure. Kerosene dumped at high altitude on a warm day tends to evaporate fastest. - Her Lindsay-ness

http://www.aerospaceweb.org/questio... "environmental groups have expressed concern over the potential pollution implications of fuel dumping. It has been estimated that as much as 15 million pounds of fuel was released over the world's oceans by commercial and military aircraft during the 1990s. Although kerosene poses no danger to the ozone layer, it is a petroleum product that can impact water quality much like an oil or gasoline spill. " - Her Lindsay-ness

I'm not saying to not get rid of the fuel, folks. I'm asking why it can't be tossed off the plan in a bladder rather than sprayed across the country side. - FFing Enigma (aka Tina)

Is there a material that's strong enough to stand dropping from hundreds of feet in the air with a payload of flammable liquid gas that could make it to the ground intact and not be so heavy as to weigh the plane down? - Her Lindsay-ness

Thanks for the clarification Lindsay - Lindsey is Fierce!