# Why can't this plane dump fuel? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 20, 2012, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-this-plane-dump-fuel/625772 "2012-06-20T17:51:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-this-plane-dump-fuel/625772/21 "2012-06-21T22:29:18Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > You burn fuel a lot faster at low level. That part I knew. The way it played out (at least, as the article describes) just seems a bit contradictory. The plane was so damaged that the flight crew dared not stray too far from the airport. Yet it was no problem to shake the thing around for four hours. I know planes are designed to survive that kind of thing, but with one hydraulic system out and another overheated and recovered, it seems like they wouldn’t do anything with even a potential for added risk. ---
**Author:** ![Simple\_Linctus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Simple\_Linctus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simple_Linctus)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-this-plane-dump-fuel/625772/22 "2012-06-21T22:33:05Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > But the OP is better off asking this question on Pprune. the OP would be (rightly) mocked for asking this question on pprune ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-this-plane-dump-fuel/625772/23 "2012-06-21T23:38:51Z")
> [@Confused dart cum](#): > > the OP would be (rightly) mocked for asking this question on pprune Only if asked in the wrong forum. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-this-plane-dump-fuel/625772/24 "2012-06-22T01:20:14Z")
They mention in the article that the pilots may have been hand flying because the autopilot tripped off. I also wonder if the yaw damper\* was affected by the hydraulic loss. In any case, hand flying at a relatively low altitude in any kind of turbulence is going to feel peculiar and perhaps rough to many airline passengers. Especially when it goes on for hours. - The yaw damper prevents fishtailing. That’s a natural function of the rudder, but the yaw damper is automatic and more finely tuned. Passengers would feel a lot more movement when it’s not in operation (particularly if they’re seated in the rear). I’m not trained on the Airbus, but in the jet I fly the damper will turn off if there is an uncommanded autopilot disengage. It could be turned on again while hand flying the plane, but perhaps the problem in this particular case precluded that. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2012, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-this-plane-dump-fuel/625772/25 "2012-06-23T18:45:41Z")
It’s rather callous, but motionsickness and vomiting are not particularly considered to be medical emergencies nor risks to safety for the flight. Nowhere on any crew checklist does it say “make sure no pax are feeling a little nauseated” - it is an irrelevant factor when considering how to handle a developing situation on the aircraft. It sucks for the passengers, yes, but it is still irrelevant. The “obvious mechanical screeching” was probably just the hydraulic power transfer unit cycling - it has a horrible sound on the A320 (“barking dog”) and I suspect was being used to try and balance out the pressure in the hydraulic lines/trouble shoot the problem. The article also says “the front wheels had stopped working” - no nosewheel steering and therefore probably very little braking power as well makes landing heavy an especially bad idea. You want to have to use as little force as possible to stop the plane when you don’t have much force to begin with! The pilots basically followed this decision tree: Problem on the plane - can we fix it? Y/N If no, are redundant systems operable? Y/N If yes, is that enough to keep the plane in safe flight? Y/N If yes, are we heavy? Y/N If yes, let’s burn fuel and land when under max landing weight, in order to maximize control of the plane on the runway. They did everything right, by the sound of it. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-this-plane-dump-fuel/625772/26 "2012-06-24T22:49:27Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Still, at least the Daily Mail comment crowd are debating the _really_ important part: was the newspaper wrong to use the word “careering” in the headline? (Answer: no 😉 ) Bizarrely, it looks like the headline says “careening” but elsewhere it says “careering.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-this-plane-dump-fuel/625772.md?page=1)