Shocking audio captured the moment an Ethiopian Airlines pilot dumped jet fuel above Lake Michigan after suffering an autopilot failure shortly after departing Chicago O’Hare International Airport.
An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner pilot requested permission to dump fuel and return to O’Hare Airport at around 12.20pm, following a dual autopilot failure shortly after departing at 10.55am CDT.
‘We need to fuel dump here,’ said the pilot, as the flight’s track log showed the plane was above Lake Michigan at the time.
The fuel, which was intended to be used to reach Bole Addis Ababa Airport in Ethiopia, was approved to be dumped a minute later.
The flight landed at 12.30pm CDT and has since rescheduled its 10-hour, Africa-bound journey for Thursday.
Certain commercial flights require aircraft to dump fuel if they are above the landing weight limit.
Fuel dumping typically occurs above 5,000 to 10,000 feet to ensure the fuel vaporizes before reaching the ground, according to Simple Flying.
Flight logs show the Ethiopian Airlines request to dump fuel occurred while the aircraft was well above 20,000 feet.
A pilot aboard an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner requested to dump fuel and return to O’Hare Airport around 12.20pm on Wednesday after dual autopilot failure
‘We need to fuel dump here,’ said the pilot, as the flight’s track log showed the plane was above Lake Michigan at the time
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) detailed in its 2022 dumping report scenarios in which pilots may need to release excess fuel reserves.
‘On rare occasions, due to emergencies, aircraft in the National Airspace System (NAS) must land before they have consumed most of their fuel, and therefore, weigh too much to land safely,’ reads the report.
‘In these cases, pilots must dump enough fuel to bring the aircraft to a safe weight, as determined by the manufacturer’s limitations and airport conditions before landing.’
‘Under Federal Aviation Administration guidance, such fuel dumps are to be performed over remote or oceanic areas, or at an altitude at which the jettisoned fuel can atomize before reaching the ground,’ the report added.
However, the FAA noted that in dire emergencies, when the lives of the crew and passengers are at risk, pilots have the discretion to bypass guidelines to ensure a safe landing.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) monitors the impact of fuel-dump events and imposes regulations on how and where a release can take place.
Certain commercial flights require aircraft to dump fuel if they are above the landing weight limit (The Chicago skyline pictured behind Lake Michigan)
A Boeing 787-8 can hold 223,378 lbs of fuel (stock Image)
A Boeing 787-8 can hold 223,378 lbs of fuel. It is unclear at the time of this report how much fuel the plane was carrying when it dumped fuel.
The Daily Mail has reached out to the National Transportation Safety Board, Ethiopian Airlines, the FAA, the Chicago Department of Aviation, and the EPA for comment.
