The wing tanks are integral to the wing itself, the forward spar, is actually the forward face of the tank, there are no bladders inside the tank.
So if the aircraft just came out of maintenance it is quite possible that a bolt of some nature may have not been tightened sufficiently or had been replace and the old forgotten.
Then after landing and associated flap and slat operation said bolt works it way into a position where the head is against the slat and upon retraction said solid bolt would easily push through the aluminum tank skin. (if you have a look at the picture on the link it is not through the wall of the tank, the slat track channel (thanks IFix!).
Remember that the hydraulic system pressure is 3000psi and the leading edge slats are thicker than other skin surfaces to resist impact damage, so it is quite reasonable that the bolt is the cause of the leak.
Now having said that and seeing the video and amount of wind it is more than likely that the fuel would have run on the under surface of the wing (downhill towards the keel) and pooled. Given the residual thrust from the N1 fan would blow a lot away, only upon shut down does it actually begin to pool.
This would explain why the fire started at the stand and not during taxi in.
As I posted before (#98), any fire not in the turbine or accessory areas of the engine are not within the capabilities of the on board extinguisher, and there are no crew actions to deal with the situation.
Professionally I would say any evacuation of 160 odd people with only two minor injuries and not using the overwing exits is a damm fine effort on the CC part!
All up we will have a lot to learn from the final report which I am sure will be very well documented. It also gives us a new LOFT scenario for the un-expected in the sim,
Ie: uneventful landing and taxi, just upon runway exit (while we are going spoilers down, flaps up, paperwork blah blah blah, call to from “lucy” in 2L that she “thinks she sees black smoke coming from near the wingy thingy” (don’t laugh I had that once)!
No crew indication, outside wx atrocious, pissing rain, wind and blowing snow, at night so the tower can see to confirm……… sounds like fun hey! I’d get the FO to stick his head out the window!
