Fuel leak on United Airlines flight goes unnoticed by crew

And if it didn't stop on it's own, might there be a situation where they are short on fuel later while in the air on a transatlantic flight.

If I were on a plane leaking fuel at that rate, I hope someone notices it and remedies it.

a reply to: D8Tee

United airlines new slogan. "That's normal"

a reply to: roadgravel

Yeah, it could. It's not likely though. Those dump valves can open from an over pressure in the tank, debris getting into the valve, a bad valve....

It usually stops after a few minutes. Once the pressure in the tank drops some it slows,and eventually stops.

a reply to: Zaphod58

OK. Wonder why the fueling personnel didn't notice it. Could it take a bit of time for heat, etc to cause a rise in pressure and open the valve?

a reply to: roadgravel

Yeah. Sometimes they pop as soon as you start putting fuel in, other times, especially if the tank isn't full, the pressure builds up as the wing is heated by the sun or other factors, and it starts leaking after awhile.

Seen a WW1 replica spill fuel on startup that set on fire and proceeded to burn the flying axle between the UC legs.

Either the dump valve was having a bad day or some twit in the cockpit hit the jettison switch by mistake. That happens too sometimes. Either way I hope the cabin crew got a stern lecture in never ignoring a passenger saying they can see fuel leaking out and snapping at them to sit down. I once saw a plane start to push back with an open cargo door because you know, everyone swore it was closed except the baggage handler who jumped up and down, waving and shouting.

As for clean up, we have a great big airport sucker truck with vacuum hoses for such things, kitty litter only goes so far once you get past a few tens of kilograms.

And in the summer heat, fuel from underground can get put in a plane in the morning then sit for hours...it goes to the surge tank at the outboardest, with a simple drain valve sometimes, or it can refill the next.

Over a quart and. Ya have to bail, if it flows toward....as in the video. It was underneath......tween the tires.....flowing steady inward.....

a reply to: thebozeian

We generally only had vents on the external tanks, or the wing tanks on the S-3s. When they vented, we didn't even see 100 pounds hit the ramp, except that many damned Viking. Jesus I hated refueling that thrice damned thing.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: roadgravel

Yeah, it could. It's not likely though. Those dump valves can open from an over pressure in the tank, debris getting into the valve, a bad valve....

It usually stops after a few minutes. Once the pressure in the tank drops some it slows,and eventually stops.

Gonna second that observation Zaph. A busy day on the VP line would show puddles of kerosene all over the tarmac.

a reply to: charlyv

Real fun is when you see a puddle under your jet, and realize it's that lovely shade of red. Now THAT crap was nasty as hell.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: charlyv

Real fun is when you see a puddle under your jet, and realize it's that lovely shade of red. Now THAT crap was nasty as hell.

Whats that, hydraulic fluid?

a reply to: D8Tee

Skydrol.

Fire resistant my ass. We had an aircraft come back with a fire warning light after a leak, and it had caught fire and burned through the cowling and was merrily blazing away.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: charlyv

Real fun is when you see a puddle under your jet, and realize it's that lovely shade of red. Now THAT crap was nasty as hell.

Yea, that stuff was like acid.

a reply to: charlyv

I just thank god the only time we ever had to deal with an Emergency Power Unit on the F-16 was to park the damn things out in left field.

God I should have nine different types of cancer, alzheimers, dementia, and a half dozen other diseases by now from the ramp work I did. Heh.

Boz can you remember a Greenfinger (off a patchy memory) 747cargo at Kingsford Smith mid to late 80,s that had a leak of Skydrol on one of the engines?Instead of fixing the leak they had just topped up at each port of call.Result one paint stripped,coating stripped,Cad plated stripped,anodised stripped,just about everything stripped on one side of the engine

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: charlyv

I just thank god the only time we ever had to deal with an Emergency Power Unit on the F-16 was to park the damn things out in left field.

God I should have nine different types of cancer, alzheimers, dementia, and a half dozen other diseases by now from the ramp work I did. Heh.

All that stuff, and the combined aroma of it all probably made us more powerful! Get close to an airport and a few whiffs bring back a lot of memories!!

Cant forget MEK

a reply to: Blackfinger

Methyl Ethyl Ketone?
How about Tricloroethane, used to wash my hand in that stuff if they were greasy lol.

originally posted by: Blackfinger
Cant forget MEK

Hard to figure how something so nasty smelled like butterscotch.