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US Air Base Confirms "Emergency" Fuel Dumping Over Kyrgyzstan

Posted on: Wednesday, 28 September 2005, 09:00 CDT

Text of report by Kyrgyz news agency Kabar

Bishkek, 27 September: "Yes, we have indeed dumped, in total, about 80 tonnes of fuel in two different emergency situations," the press service of the Ganci air base [of the US-led antiterror coalition deployed at Kyrgyzstan's Manas airport] said.

The first incident occurred on 24 September, when a bird stuck in one of the engines of a KC-135 tanker aircraft belonging to the air base and the engine's temperature exceeded the admissible norm. The pilots switched off the engine and reported the emergency situation in flight [to the air base command]. They asked permission from the administration of the Kyrgyzaeronavigatsiya [Kyrgyz aeronautics] state-run company to dump fuel in the atmosphere at an altitude of 6,000 metres in order to make a safe landing. The pilots received permission from Kyrgyzaeronavigatsiya and landed safely at Manas international airport.

The air base's press service said that the second incident occurred on 26 September, when another KC-135 tanker aircraft had an undercarriage failure after takeoff. The pilot reported the emergency situation in flight [to the air base command] and warned that there would be a possible undercarriage failure when the aircraft touched the landing strip. In order to reduce pressure on the undercarriage as much as possible and to land as soon as possible, the pilot again asked permission from Kyrgyzaeronavigatsiya to dump fuel in the atmosphere in order to reduce the weight of the aircraft in landing. The pilot again received permission from the administration of the Kyrgyzaeronavigatsiya state-run company and dumped the fuel at an altitude of 6,600 metres. The aircraft then landed safely at Manas international airport.

"The dumping of fuel is a generally-accepted procedure, which was approved by the International Civil Aviation Organization, in emergency situations. The coalition's aircraft seldom dump fuel in flight over Kyrgyzstan during operations. Our operational procedures do not allow the crew to dump fuel over Kyrgyzstan, except for a number of disastrous defects that require dumping fuel as the only possible way of landing an aircraft safely," the Ganci air base said.

The air base also asked to take into account the fact that the coalition's aircraft dumped fuel only at a certain altitude and speed in order to accelerate the fuel vaporization and to minimize its effect on the environment.

"We have also been informed that last year, the Kyrgyz government officially investigated the dumping of fuel and overall effect of the coalition's airborne operations. The findings showed that they did not have any negative effect on the environment. We are committed to ensuring the highest level of security for our operations and for the Kyrgyz people and its environment, " the Ganci air base said.

Source: BBC Monitoring Central Asia

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