Pilots on a United Airlines flight declared ‘MAYDAY’ shortly after taking off from Washington Dulles International Airport ...

The pilot informed ATC that the aircraft was dumping fuel at 6,000 feet while flying northwest. ATC then instructed the plane ...

A United Airlines Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner bound for Munich was forced to return to Washington Dulles Airport on July 25, ...

That's when fuel dumping, officially known as fuel jettison, comes into play. It might sound wasteful or dangerous, but it's a safe, engineered solution for emergencies.

The fuel dumping began about 10 miles west of Martha’s Vineyard, according to the recordings. The plane continued offloading the fuel for about 20 minutes, as it passed south of Cape Cod.

A tanker truck driver faces two felonies after being accused of dumping more than 5,300 gallons of diesel fuel in Anne Arundel County last year, according to the Maryland Judiciary.

The flight named UA108, had reached an altitude of 5,000 feet when the crew declared an emergency and reported a malfunction ...

The solution to this is fuel dumping. It isn't standard practice, though, and only wide-body jets like the Boeing 747 or Airbus A350 have the systems to do it.