Last week, a Delta Airlines plane was flying out of Los Angeles International Airport to Shanghai, China when it dumped jet fuel onto an elementary school. Nearly 60 people were treated as a result of the incident, including 20 children and 11 adults, all from Park Avenue Elementary in Cudahy.
Additional schools in the area were also affected, including San Gabriel Elementary, Graham Elementary, Tweedy Elementary, 93rd Street Elementary, and Jordan High School.
“Drops of water were coming down. I thought it was a rainbow, and I looked up, and it was gasoline,” 5th grader Justin Guiti told CNN.
“We came out and we were playing and the airplane was outside and we thought it was rain, but then we knew it was throwing gas on us and everybody started to run,” Josue Borgus, 11, told the Los Angeles Times. “We went to the auditorium and we knew what happened. We went back to class. We stayed for one hour and then we went home.”
The police and hazardous materials experts checked each scene and declared there were no further signs of danger, according to inspector Sean Ferguson of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
The fuel dropped from the airplane after it “experienced an engine issue requiring the aircraft to return quickly to LAX.” The jet fuel was released in order to decrease the plane’s overall weight and prep the plane for a safe landing.
Understandably, parents of students affected by the jet fuel were concerned about their child’s well-being, taking extra precautions to ensure their children were safe.
“Just a small amount landed on my son’s clothes and on his arms, but we washed him with soap and changed his clothes and he seems fine,” mom Ana Cervantes told the Los Angeles Times.
Teachers file a lawsuit against Delta, claiming negligence.
Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt after the incident. However, since the event, teachers involved in the incident have filed a lawsuit against Delta, accusing the airline of “negligence.”
Gloria Allred is representing the teachers who are suing. In a press conference, Allred claimed that the teachers, who have chosen not to release their names, felt “sick, dizzy and nauseated” after the dumped fuel fell on them. Watch the press conference below.
The FAA is currently investigating the incident.
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