Locating A-320 fuel leak

[Perseverando88]

Say you have a fuel leak.

How does one determine if the fuel leak is coming from the engine in flight ?

Thanks.

[Pander216]

The primary indication of the place of a fuel leak is done by a visual inspection from the cabin.

Furthermore if the Fuel Flow indication on the cruise page is excessive, a fuel leak near the engine may be expected.

If a fuel leak near the engine is expected the next step is to stop fuel transfer to the engine by shuting it down. If the leak stops, the crossfeed valve can now be opened to re-balance fuel quantity.

If the place of the fuel leak is not confirmed, shut the affected engine down and then monitor the depletion rate of each inner tank, to determine if the leak is from an engine or a wing (case 1), or from the Center tank, or the APU feeding line (case 2).

Case 1: If one inner tank depletes fasther than the other by at least 300 KG in less than 30 minutes a engine leak may still be suspected. If the inner tank fuel quantity of the affected side stops decreasing, the engine leak is confirmed and stopped. If the leak has not stopped after engine shut down, a leak from the wing may be suspected.

Case2: if both inner tanks deplete at a similar rate a leak from the Center tank or the APU feeding line may be suspected.

[Perseverando88]

Thanks Pander. One has to be careful about opening the x-feed valve.

[Pander216]

Indeed, tell that to Air Transat;)