Plane's fuel cap forgotten

[Kiwi172]

Plane's fuel cap forgottenSaturday, 28 March 2009
By Jackson Payne

All was normal for Colin Lewis and his fellow passengers on the 7.20am Air New Zealand flight from Gisborne to Wellington this morning - except for the plane's fuel cap balancing on the wing.

"The plane was taxiing along the runway when some people saw the fuel cap on the wing," Mr Lewis said.

A passenger alerted the pilot and they returned to the terminal to get the fuel cap screwed on.

"As the plane took off I thought, 'I hope nothing else is wrong," Mr Lewis said.

"It was like, 'OK, the fuel cap's on, I hope everything else is in place - locked and tied down'.

"They told us when we arrived in Wellington there is an anti-fuel spilling thing so no petrol would have come out. But that was only when we arrived.

"Apart from that it was a good flight."

He said there was some discussion but "no one was too disturbed".

It was not enough to put him off flying but he said there should be multiple checks before take-off.

"I don't know what their procedures are but I would think those who are refuelling would have checked, but also that the pilots do a visual check because you can't see on top of the wing from the ground.

"The pilot mentioned there would be plenty of paper work."

Air New Zealand could not be reached for comment this morning.

[ZK-NSN]

Must have been a very, very slow news day.
"Apart from that it was a good flight."

in a 1900? I find that hard to beleive.

[captaintunedog777]

So friigin what. You can MEL and dispatch most jets well the ones I have flown with out fuel caps. Total crap

[SeldomFixit]

makes note - have someone check tunedog's work..............maybe UNDERWING caps but the overwings ? :ugh:

[Bullethead]

I was paxing in the back end of a Herc years ago en-route from NSFA to YSRI and I noticed, through the para door window, what looked like dumping fuel from the left wing. On closer inspection it appeared to be coming out of the top of the wing. I got on the headset and notified the flight deck crew and it turns out they'd done an overwing re-fuel in NSFA and must not have secured the one of the fuel caps properly. The catch was that of all the myriad fuel tanks and guages that a Herc has the only guage that was INOP was the one for the tank without the cap on it. The low pressure on top of the wing was hoovering the fuel out fairly well and the only way the crew would've found out would have been when the engine flamed out.

So I reckon this statement So friigin what. You can MEL and dispatch most jets well the ones I have flown with out fuel caps. Total crap is total crap.

Fuel caps are not mentioned in the MELs of the jets I fly/have flown so therefore they are definitely required.

Regards,
BH.

[captaintunedog777]

Bullet head and Seldom use it.

I don't want to get into a pissing match here. It is MEL able on quite a few a/c types. Maybe not the mini versions you guys may fly or dream of flying. And believe it or not with the a/c I fly it it is MEL able on the underwing and not the overwing fuel caps. Fancy that.

Let's think about it for a moment. Do you honestly think manufacturers would design a/c which carry tens of thousands of kilos of fuel in such a way if a refuler forgot to put the cap on the whole lot would piss out under the wing as the a/c got airborne? Think about it.

Try checking your a/c's CDL bullet head it is ususally located after the MEL.

Next please!!!

[fordran]

You may not want to get into a pi$$ing match Capt. and if you did, I would concede defeat immediately as I am just a poor engineer. The guy who posted before you may not be as wonderful as you and his CDLs may be different than yours but for god sake, show some respect. He has said that trivialising the fuel cap in his situation is a little more critical than others. It's not all about you.

[Bullethead]

CTD777

From post#1

The plane was taxiing along the runway when some people saw the fuel cap on the wing,"

So the subject is overwing fuel caps, not underwing as you mentioned and my statement still stands and it ain't in the CDL either.

Regards,
BH.

[SideSaddle]

captaintunedog777 obviously doesn't know the difference between a single point fuel cap and an overwing fuel cap. I don't know what he flies but there are many "large" aircraft with OTW fuel caps as well as single point pressure refuel points. The Herc is one of them as Bullethead stated. So don't assume aircraft with underwing SPR caps are mutualy exclusive from those with OTW caps.

[Torqueman]

Don't you worry captaintunedog777 you keep walking around telling us that the brake is nearly worn.

Just pop back up into the cockpit and have yourself a nice cup of coffee now.

I think there is a significant difference between the top and bottom of the wing. I guess you only worry about what you can see from the bottom.

You let us worry about the rest. Have a nice day.

ps. The cap you are refering to in on the pressure refuelling manifold which has a valve which is manually actuated by the refueller. Further downstream are automatic valves which open to let fuel into the desired tank. So yes the cap on the pressure refuelling point may be MEL'd. But even a student pilot knows that the cap on top of the wing needs to be in place. That is a direct opening to the tank. The article clearly stated the cap was balancing on top of the wing.

[Ixixly]

No no no, your all wrong, i don't know where they are getting this tripe from, i mean seriously, you find me a fuel cap on this plane:

http://www.woodworkersclub.com/handplane%20class.jpg

No where for passengers to even sit let alone stare out at an imaginary fuel cap!!

:} couldn't help myself....

[Torqueman]

yeah but i'm pretty sure I know who the knob is at the front

[Bullethead]

That'd be Stanley's knob of course!!! :eek:

[What-ho Squiffy!]

Maybe not the mini versions you guys may fly or dream of flying. And believe it or not with the a/c I fly it it is MEL able on the underwing and not the overwing fuel caps. Fancy that.

It must be great being you.:D

[startingout]

So back to the original post, is the 1900's tanks protected in anyway or is it like the metro just open to everything if the cap is left off on the top?:ok:

[framer]

Anti-syphon valve in the overwing refuelling points on the 1900D. My guess is the worst case scenario would be taking off , cap smashes around causing lots of little dents before either a pax spots it and the a/c returns to departure airport, or, it comes right off and the refueller at destination notices it after an unevntful flight.

[Cloud Cutter]

captaintunedog777

While I agree this isn't a very big deal, there's no way in hell any aircraft manufacturer would include this type of fuel cap in their MEL - it's basically the same as in a modern car - just a basic anti-syphon mechanism.

Pressure refueling points are a completely different thing, about the only similarity is that fuel goes through them.

[joehunt]

To help avoid this type of occurance with this class of a/c, the goldern rule is "the goldern lap", after the passengers have been seated.

Make sure all baggage lockers are locked and full caps are in the correct positions.

[framer]

Thats true joe but the turn arounds are getting shorter and the workload has been increasing. Every few months another 'task' is given to the f/o or captain to be carried out during the trn around. Normally a very small task that may take 20 seconds or so, but over time they are all adding up. I'm not saying that safety shouldn't come first, just that human factors always plays it's part .

[18-Wheeler]

Thats true joe but the turn arounds are getting shorter and the workload has been increasing. Every few months another 'task' is given to the f/o or captain to be carried out during the trn around. Normally a very small task that may take 20 seconds or so, but over time they are all adding up. I'm not saying that safety shouldn't come first, just that human factors always plays it's part .

As I have not infrequently said to people that try to make me rush with such things, "well you can just f**king wait until I'm ready then."
Learn to ignore people and do your job.

[Cloud Cutter]

Framer

I think you'll find the average turn around time is longer than it was a year ago. How else would you explain the decrease in utilisation?

In any case, the final 'fuel cap on' check is made just before starting each engine - this hasn't changed since, well, ever.

[diseasel]

I hope the refueller came in for a wet bus ticket as well. I mean, you've got one job to do for christs sake. Perhaps two jobs in GIS, perhaps this is the problem.

Did the refueller go off watch for his lunch break just prior to completing refuelling?? Perhaps he legally didn't have the time to get the cap back on, and needed a sandwich. Might have had a date with the tower controller. In which case, this is Labours fault and they should all be arrested and charged with endangering the lives of everyone aboard.

[framer]

Cutter and 18wheels,
Yip, I forgot about that last look before starting the engines (been a while). Good point.

"well you can just f**king wait until I'm ready then." heh heh we all know that feeling! Problem is though that you shouldn't have to say tha every bloody day, you should only get that stressed if something unusual as happened.
Anyway, I've probably dragged this thread in the wrong direction....bloody Labour....if it's not a benefit dependant nation of losers or a huge ACC bill it's the ole fuel cap on the wing trick....glad they've been relegated considering.