Why do planes release fuel before landing?

Fuel dumping (or a fuel jettison) is a procedure used by aircraft in certain emergency situations before a return to the airport shortly after takeoff, or before landing short of the intended destination (emergency landing) to reduce the aircraft's weight.



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Military and civilian aircraft at times dis- charge fuel in flight to facilitate a safe landing.

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Q: Why do planes speed up before landing? The airplanes do not increase speed before landing. But when landing gear and flaps are set to landing position, they create a lot of aerodynamic drag. Therefore, engine power is increased to maintain the approach speed.

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Airlines find that fuel dumping can actually be cheaper than not dumping in certain circumstances. But it's not something pilots do on a routine basis. We spoke with Alison Duquette, spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), who assured us that it doesn't happen very often.

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In general the passengers are disembarked (see it as a two connecting flights). Sometime passengers could remain on the plane (but usually when most of people disembark. Refueling is considered a dangerous activity, so there are various special procedures and how many flight attendants should be ready (and where).

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The maximum landing weight (MLW) is the maximum aircraft gross weight due to design or operational limitations at which an aircraft is permitted to land. The MLW is set in order to ensure safe landings; if an aircraft weighs too heavy during touchdown, it may suffer structural damage or even break apart upon landing.

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Since most twin jet airliners can meet these requirements, most aircraft of this type such as the Boeing 737 (all models), the DC-9/MD80/Boeing 717, the A320 family and various regional jet (RJ) aircraft do not have fuel dump systems installed.

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In this case, the aircraft will try to do it overland (not water) or away from populated areas, as it is the equivalent of dumping thousands of liters of petrol onto an urban area. The FAA mentions explicitly that any dumping can't occur under 2,000 feet.

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The term hard landing usually implies that the pilot still has total or partial control over the aircraft, as opposed to an uncontrolled descent into terrain (a crash). Hard landings can vary in their consequences, from mild passenger discomfort to vehicle damage, structural failure, injuries, and/or loss of life.

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In most cases, airlines only dump air in midair immediately before landing. They don't do it before or during takeoff, nor do they do it halfway through their flight. Rather, airlines may dump some of their airplane's excess fuel immediately before landing so that it lowers the weight of their aircraft.

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Over a certain altitude it is always considered safe to dump fuel. The high speed of the airplane means the fuel is spread very thin and will evaporate before it hits the ground. Accidents do of course happen where it is not possible to safely dump fuel and they end up dumping over populated areas.

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Usually not. However, some weather conditions can cause turbulence and up and downdrafts such that an airplane can not be controlled completely; that makes me nervous. The pilot can usually keep the pitch about right, but the airspeed will be going all over the place.

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The most used is the Instrument Landing System or ILS. The ILS consists of two radio beams which project up from the area around the runway up into the approach path. These signals are then picked up in the aircraft by the ILS receiver which displays them on the screens in the flight deck.

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All takeoffs and most landing are done manually. In reduced visibility conditions, many airliners utilize auto land where the autopilot(s) perform the landing under the close monitoring of the pilots.

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Virtually every single airline pilot manually lands every single flight. There are generally only two reasons an airline pilot would let an airplane autoland. Weather below minimums where autoland is required.

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What do pilots say right before takeoff? These can vary, but in general, the announcements are relatively standard across different airlines. Most pilots will typically introduce themselves and the cabin crew; state the aircraft type, flight number, and route, and remind passengers of the airline's seatbelt policy.

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