Delta Air Lines, the Atlanta-based carrier, has agreed to pay $78.8 million to settle a class action lawsuit stemming from a 2020 incident in which one of its aircraft released jet fuel over Los Angeles and Orange counties in California. A proposed preliminary settlement was filed this week in Los Angeles federal court and now awaits judicial approval. The case relates to Delta Flight 89, a Boeing 777 bound for Shanghai with 167 passengers and crew, which jettisoned about 15,000 pounds of fuel shortly after takeoff to reduce the risks of an overweight emergency landing. The fuel release doused tens of thousands of properties, including schools and homes, and left several dozen people on the ground with minor injuries.
Plaintiffs argued that Delta pilots acted unnecessarily by dumping fuel at a low altitude over populated areas instead of higher altitudes or over the Pacific Ocean. Delta denied wrongdoing, stating the crew “did exactly what federal regulations and their FAA-approved training required them to do to respond to that in-flight emergency and ensure the safety of the passengers, crew, and people on the ground.” A Federal Aviation Administration review later cleared the pilots. Court filings show that, after legal fees, the net settlement of $50.6 million will be distributed among owners or residents of an estimated 38,000 properties. Plaintiffs’ attorney Filippo Marchino said the settlement was fair, noting it would compensate “hard-working families who asked only for respect and just treatment and rightly deserve this result.”
