US: Passenger jet dumps fuel on California schoolyards

A passenger plane spewed jet fuel over Los Angeles playgrounds, causing schoolchildren and adults to experience skin and lung irritation. The plane, which had reported engine trouble, landed safely at a nearby airport.

A Delta Airlines passenger jet with engine trouble dumped jet fuel as school children were playing outside in California on Tuesday while it made an emergency return to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

Delta Airlines Flight 89 to Shanghai reported engine trouble a few minutes after takeoff. The fuel sprayed out of the plane in two lines and fell as a smelly mist on children at several schools about 13 miles (21 kilometers) east of the airport.

"Shortly after takeoff, Flight 89 from LAX to Shanghai experienced an engine issue requiring the aircraft to return quickly to LAX," a Delta spokesperson told the Agence France Presse news agency. "The aircraft landed safely after a release of fuel, which was required as part of normal procedure to reach a safe landing weight."

The fuel caused minor skin and lung irritation to 56 children and adults, fire officials said. All injuries were minor and there weren't any evacuations.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is still investigating the incident."There are special fuel-dumping procedures for aircraft operating into and out of any major US airport," the FAA said in a statement.

"These procedures call for fuel to be dumped over designated unpopulated areas, typically at higher altitudes so the fuel atomizes and disperses before it reaches the ground."