Check those fuel tanks!

I for one never allow my aircraft to be fueled without me being present and always sample the fuel during preflight whether it was just fueled or not. I always make sure it's a truck clearly labeled 100LL.

Here in Las Cruces last month several people involved in fueling a medical transport plane dropped the ball according to the prelim from the NTSB. A Cessna 421 was fueled with 40 gallons of Jet A with predictable results.

It is so sad and so preventable. So lets check those tanks and not be complacent about it!

http://www.kvia.com/news/ntsb-wrong-fuel-pumped-into-plane-that-went-down-in-las-cruces/27950286

This is just awful.

A similar mis-fueling incident occurred near here perhaps 15 years ago, with the same results.

There were then months and months of lawsuit action. The fueling company was eventually forced to pay a substantial settlement. This is perhaps rough justice as far as it goes - the fueling company should hire people that can read the notice around the fuel cap and put the correct fuel in.

However, the PIC is responsible for verifying a fuel sample prior to flight. Every flight. End of story.

Very sad.

-Paragon
Cincinnati, OH

One of my line guys once put 100 gal of jet in a 421B. He realized the mistake as he rang up the ticket and told me. I got to pull an all nighter hand swabbing fuel cells with towels. Did you know a 421 can hide about 6 gallons in the auxes?

One of the guys on POA actually did a test where he mixed 100LL and Jet-A together in a 50/50 ratio.

You'd be very surprised by the results. I personally would NOT be able to tell the difference between that 50/50 mix and pure 100LL.

Here's the post:
http://www.pilotsofamerica.com/forum/showthread.php?t=74702

And one of the images. Both the bottle and bucket have a 50/50 mix of 100LL and Jet A.


It's perfectly plausible that they sumped the tanks and didn't think there was an issue.

Joness0154 said:

It's perfectly plausible that they sumped the tanks and didn't think there was an issue.

Click to expand...

Did you try the "sniff test"? Also, although I know it is not environmentally fashionable, if you throw the sample on the ground av gas generally quickly evaporates, while Jet A tends to leave a greasy residue for a while.

But according to the NTSB report, the pilot was just distracted or otherwise trusting. He was in the cockpit during the refueling process (truck in view?), and later went into the FBO and signed the fuel receipt. Lots of blame to go around here. But the message is clear: as PIC you must constantly be alert, as much as humanly possible.

Edit: Here's the quote from the NTSB report: "The pilot was still seated in the cockpit when he gave the line service technician a verbal order for a total of forty gallons of fuel. The line service technician drove the fuel truck to the front of the airplane and refueled the airplane putting 20 gallons in each wing. The pilot then assisted the line service technician with replacing both fuel caps. They both walked into the office and the pilot signed the machine printed fuel ticket."

Jones0154,

Thank you for the information and the link, and for the resulting clarification of this issue. I was not aware how difficult it might be to actually detect Jet A contamination in Avgas.

It would be obvious if one had 100% Jet A added to an empty tank, but progressively less obvious if there was a blend of Jet A and Avgas...

The linked discussion thread includes a recommendation to put a drop or two of fuel on white paper - the avgas evaporates quickly with no residue, the Jet A evaporates slowly and leaves an oily blotch. This would be an inexpensive and simple test to add to one's preflight routine.


Best Regards,

-Paragon
Cincinnati, OH

Joness0154 said:

One of the guys on POA actually did a test where he mixed 100LL and Jet-A together in a 50/50 ratio.

You'd be very surprised by the results. I personally would NOT be able to tell the difference between that 50/50 mix and pure 100LL.

Here's the post:
http://www.pilotsofamerica.com/forum/showthread.php?t=74702

And one of the images. Both the bottle and bucket have a 50/50 mix of 100LL and Jet A.

It's perfectly plausible that they sumped the tanks and didn't think there was an issue.

Click to expand...

That is scary!!

AndyRV7 said:

That is scary!!

Click to expand...

Yep.

Thankfully I fuel the aircraft I fly 90% of the time. I think I'm going to change my habits and observe the fueling process for that other 10%.

I NEVER EVER let anyone else refuel my aircraft unattended.

Of course that is much easier here as we have no FBO services like the USA does. 99% of the time it is self serve. The occasional truck is around in which case even if the refuelled holds the hose I am supervising.

Throwing a fuel card to the FBO and coming back later in the day??NO WAY!!