Mysterious Jet Fuel

`Kerosene' Mist Source Remains A Mystery
By KEITH MORELLI
[email protected]


TAMPA - The mystery surrounding the kerosene-smelling mist that shrouded part of the Plantation subdivision Monday night may go down in history as just that: a mystery.
A Federal Aviation Administration investigation has turned up nothing to explain how Vicki Morris, who was walking her dog on Crowngate Lane about 7 p.m. Monday, came away from the stroll reeking of what she said was jet fuel dumped by an overhead aircraft.

Her subdivision is under the flight path of airliners using Tampa International Airport, and jumbo jets roar across the sky at low altitudes all day.

Morris, 51, A real estate agent, said she never had been outside during a jet fuel downpour, if that was what it was Monday night.

She said her skin and scalp burned and she carried the kerosene taste in her mouth for two days.

A neighbor corroborated her story, saying the stench of kerosene, which is like that of jet fuel, a kerosene-based compound, was so strong Monday night that she feared an explosion and fire.

The next morning, whiffs of kerosene lingered in the air.

Despite the FAA's lack of an explanation, Morris is convinced the mist that soaked her originated from a jet fuel tank.

``I'm 100 percent sure, especially now with the way they're covering it up,'' she said Friday afternoon.

She is irked that the FAA findings and denials by airport officials make her look like she is trying to pull something.

All she wanted, she said, was a letter of apology from the responsible party.

She was denied that, she said, after talking to the FAA investigator Friday afternoon.

She said the investigator said there would be no apology. ``He said, ` ``No, we did nothing wrong.' ''

TIA officials said there was no emergency Monday night that would have prompted a jetliner to dump fuel before landing, and there was no authorization for a pilot to dump fuel.

Initially, FAA investigators said there were no airplanes over the subdivision at that time. However, a further review of the radar logs showed five aircraft flew over the Plantation subdivision Monday between 6:56 p.m. and 7:05 p.m., FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said.

None of the aircraft had the mechanical capability to dump fuel, she said.

Two were commercial jetliners, two were propeller- powered carriers and one was a corporate jet. None reported any fuel dump, intentional or accidental, Bergen said.

An FAA investigator visited Morris this week and examined a vial of the substance that fell on her, Bergen said.

The investigator confirmed it could have been jet fuel but also could have been another type of fuel.

``Right now, we cannot confirm the fuel came from an aircraft,'' Bergen said. ``There is no evidence of any mechanical problem that would have caused any of the aircraft to lose fuel.''

Morris said she would look into having the substance tested herself at an independent laboratory to find out exactly what it is.


Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 865-1504.