Very Funny Story at JNB ORTIA today
 

There is generally a great deal of moaning and negativity on this forum, so i just had to relate this rather ammusing little incident that happened at OR Tambo today.
We were parked on the charlie ramp today and i saw the fuel truck arrive, but some time later the fuel still was not being pumped on board.
Next the refueller jumps on board and explains that he has tried everything but the fuel just wont pump. I sent my FO out to have a look and see if there was anything obviously wrong on our fuelling panel and she came back into the aircraft laughing her socks off.
The refueller had attached his truck to the fuel point in the ground, but had not attached the pipe to the aircraft, so EISH all our problems were solved! I enjoyed the giggle!:D

I suppose she calls you by your first name: CAPTAIN! :}

haha! Nice...:ok:

I guess he could have said "So I asked Jane to go and have a look..". But how would we know who the hell Jane is?

Sounds like you have a bit of an issue with authority gradient; i.e. the kind of young, over confident first officer the needs a good re-set in the cockpit.

Humour gradient? Your FO - I like that, sound like a good boss - hopefully her socks did`nt smell.:}

Good grief people...can it not just be a funny story without being disected into CRM, authority, personality or rank issues...:ugh::ugh::ugh:

DASHER 8...thanks for the story....i enjoyed it :ok:

It's all in the words!
 

Firstly yes, a very amusing but worrying story. If the refueler is so poorly trained, what does he (or she) know about safety!

Secondly, when I read the story I had the same reaction to many others when I read the words "I sent my F/O out". If that had been worded slightly better it would not have attracted any attention at all.

SA aircrew do seem to have a bit of a hang-up with being called "captain".

As a retired ground handler I am horrified at the poor quality of fuelling staff designated for this flight. The Captain needs to make a formal report in the interests of safety.

It was and still is a funny story and for clariffication i usually am not referred to as Captain, and for the record i politely asked my FO to go and have a look at our fuelling issues as it is in line with our company policy that the FO does that task.
It appears the negativity i refered to in my original post is alive and well.
My FO and i both had a good giggle and had no CRM issues either earlier, then or for the rest of an enjoyable pairing so for the moaning grannies out there get a life!!! :ugh:

During CRM training we learn that a very large part of how we communicate with each other is by body language. Email type communication is therefore very open to personal interpretation or mis-interpretation so dont worry about it.

Hell yes-the man says that the slave was a woman and that the pairing was enjoyable- so who gives a golly gosh damn to whom she belongs!

I think the sensitivity displayed here by some posters is much more of a CRM issue than anything in the original post.

FO..Captain..Hostie..who cares.
 

Incredible....someone shares something that is very amusing and the rest get up in arms because he sent the FO out to have a look.

At least he never sent the hostie out.

Dasher....next time, get the FO to share the story and let her to tell how she sent the captain out to have a look why ....and see what the response is then.

Whichever way you look at it, I think it is amusing....but then again, I do have a warped sense of humour.

Goffel...:8

The k word comes to mind!

Laughing matter for those who think it is......I guess it won't be a laughing matter when he doesn't earth the aircraft and then makes a spill......then it would be a very different story...:( I would immediately contact someone on that department. Thats no laughing matter.:ugh:

The guy shares a funny story with us here and all you lot do is bitch and moan... Grow up!!! Earthing the airplane.... Yeah ok.... Most of you don't even know where the earthing points on your own aircraft are.... But amuse me, what do you think will happen if he forgets to earth your airplane??? Nada, nothing!!!!

Interestin perhaps?
There was no fuel tank truck involved at all anyhow apparently.

Nada, nothing!!!!
 

Well that's a nice professional attitude! What do you think will happen if he:

• Over-pressurizes the fuel tanks
• De-fuels instread of refuels
• Loads contaminated fuel.
• Drives the truck into the aircraft. (or allows it to roll)
• Drives off without disconnecting the fuel hose (if it ever gets connected)
• Has a smoke during refueling
• Loads 5000kg instead of 500kg
• Etc, etc

That could make a funny story for you! I'm sure most of us do know how to earth an aircraft.

Interesting comments you made there suitcase,

1)How does one over pressurize the fuel tanks??? Thought there was this thing called vents....
2)How can he defuel?? Does he go into your flight deck unnoticed and flips boost pumps on, raises a start lever, open the fuel dump panel,etc,etc??
3)Loads contaminated fuel? Ok suppose could happen...
4)Drives the truck into the aircraft or allows it to roll. Well I guess he could manage to park it in to your airplane, but please explain how you roll the truck..
5)Drives off without disconnecting the hose? Have you ever supervised the refueling of your airplane?Obviously not....cause you are, maintenance are to make sure he doesn't.
6)Has a smoke during refueling?Where in his truck under the wing while you're supervising him?
7)Loads 5000Kg instead of 500Kg's?? Errm he doesn't fuel Kilo's but liters and it's your responsibility to ensure the correct uplift was taken.
8)I'm sure most of us know how to earth an aircraft. True, I take that back, should have read:suitcase man doesn't know how to earth his aircraft.

Maurice Chavez
 

Sorry Maurice but you have just shown your total lack of knowledge and experience.

I know nothing about a Dash 8 but I assume the refueller supplies fuel to other aircraft as well.

The aircraft I fly has a maximum pump pressure to be supplied to the pressure rufueling system of the aircraft and can be de-fueled by applying suction at the truck without any cockpit selection.

Many refueling operators chock their trucks like we do our aircraft so they dont roll should the park brake not hold. I have worked for many airlines, all over the world and never have I seen maintenance supervise refuelling.

The fuel panel on my aircraft is set in Kg and shuts off the refueling process when the required number of Kg have been uplifted. We do check fuel quantity before departing but errors have happend. There is a well known case of an airliner in the States doing a glide approach as it had run out of fuel due to mix-up between pounds and kilograms.

So in summary, let me know if you need me to show you where to earth your microsoft flight simulator. If you ever get to fly a real aeroplane please approach it with a bit more respect for safety.