The jet fuel dumped by a Thai Airways International aircraft before making an emergency landing on Sunday was released over the sea as a fine mist and posed no harm to the environment, a top air traffic control officer said on Tuesday.
Surachai Nuprom, acting president of Aeronautical Radio of Thailand (Aerothai), said the fuel was released by the Boeing 777-300ER over the Gulf of Thailand.
"The fuel was sprayed out and it atomised. The areas designated by Aerothai for planes to release fuel are all above the sea," he told CU radio of Chulalongkorn University.
The captain of flight TG922 decided to discharge fuel, to lighten the plane, while over Samut Sakhon province before returning to Suvarnabhumi airport after part of the undercarriage did not close properly after takeoff.
This was standard emergency procedure, he said.
Mr Surachai said air traffic controllers gave the aircraft priority clearance to land after the crew reported the issue.
The flight had departed Suvarnabhumi airport at 12.25pm for Frankfurt. After the problem was fixed, the flight took off again at 2.12pm and landed at Frankfurt without problem.
The Aerothai acting president also said he anticipated increased air traffic now the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has returned Thailand aviation safety to category 1, after earlier relegating it to the second tier over issues regarding enforcement of aviation safety regulations.
The safety upgrade would bolster the confidence of foreign airlines planning to increase flights to Thailand, and other aviation-related business, he said.
Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungruangkit said earlier that Thai airlines were now free to resume direct flights to US destinations, following the FAA upgrade.
The FAA dropped Thailand to the second safety tier in 2015 over concerns about its ability to enforce compliance with aviation safety standards.
