VOLCANO MADNESS: Re: [Geology2] Earthquake Didn't Cause Mystery Stink in San Diego Area

Monday, August 22, 2011

Re: [Geology2] Earthquake Didn't Cause Mystery Stink in San Diego Area

Occam's Razor suggests it was caused by aerosolized jettisoned aviation fuel.

On Mon, Aug 22, 2011 at 1:23 AM, Rick Bates <HappyMoosePhoto@gmail.com> wrote:

Doesn't most of SoCal smell that way? :-) Sorry, twas a free shot. I'm not even sure what JP smells like these days.

But you're correct. IF it was an accurate report on smell, it is possible that there was an aircraft emergency with protocol for the venting of 'excess' fuel. Even if that happened off shore, the resulting cloud/trail could have drifted over a fairly wide area (I haven't looked at the weather down there in a couple months). Normally it will disperse before hitting the ground/water (minimal risk to life). Depending on the quality of the sniffers, it would be detectable. Both military and civilian aircraft do this (safer to land near empty than full of fuel if things are already going sideways), though the civilian aircraft likely have to file a report if only to record the loss of fuel for the stock holders. The FAA would be told because it was an 'unusual event' but someone would also have ASK the FAA if it happened.

Or an accidental release (forgot to latch the door kind of error, yes there is an alarm for that) would have done a similar thing OVER the area (ditto a report to the FAA). Parts fail, so do the alarms, on occasion. The gummint, being what it is, may not be forthcoming without some pressure, partly under the 'National Security Blanket' (ya don't need tuh know, so git on home, yer safe still).

Considering the amount of area covered, it's more likely and aerial release than a stinking earthquake (did someone check to see if BurritoMania had another all you can eat sale? = ok, that covers the usual range of jokes about this).

Rick

From: Victor Healey

I noticed the local reports says it smelled a lot like 'jet fuel'

Duh?

Isn't there is the possibility some large fully loaded military flight that had a night time emergency and had to jettison fuel over the San Diego area to make a safe landing? Could it have even happened safely out over the Pacific and prevailing winds then carried the aerosols in over land?

The US Military is not in the habit of making such knowledge public while civilian air would.