Petrol fumes in aircraft. Once burnt twice shy if you survive the first time.
 

In 1953 I was a co-pilot on a Lincoln bomber on the way to Darwin for a two week SAR detachment. Shortly after take off the following day, I notified the captain that fuel was spraying overboard from the fuel filler cap on the top of the right wing, outboard of No 4 engine. Each wing tank contained 1000 gallons of AVGAS.

With hot exhaust stacks only a few feet away from the spraying fuel I thought the captain would be wise to stop the engine and feather its propeller. The captain, a former WW2 Liberator pilot, seemed unconcerned and flew a normal circuit and landed. We taxied to the tarmac still spilling fuel. It was no big deal to him. His confident manner relaxed me and Lincoln fuel leaks became no big deals for me.

A few years later and now a Lincoln instructor, I was tasked to convert a newly arrived Wing Commander to the Lincoln. That was in January 1958. At the time I was 26 years old and the Wing Commander, a former wartime pilot was about 45. He was a pleasant old (in my eyes) chap and a very keen pilot.

It was his first flight in a Lincoln and we spent some time in the cockpit discussing its layout. His normally cheery demeanour began to fade and I saw him sniffing the air suspiciously. The Lincoln was a smelly aircraft at the best of times and worse in the tropical heat. It whiffed of stale BO, hydraulic oil and in particular the faint odour of fuel emanating from the various fuel cross-feed cocks situated at the back of the main spar next to the signaller’s position. It was the signaller’s job to operate the fuel cross-feed system when required.

I had just explained the use of the fuel booster pumps when the Wingco held up his hand and said he was leaving the aircraft immediately until the ground crew had checked the cockpit area for fuel leaks. This caught me unawares but it was obvious he wasn’t joking. So with our parachutes, Mae West life jackets, flying helmets and goggles we laboriously climbed through the front escape hatch in the nose of the Lincoln and down a ladder held by a member of the ground staff.

Back In his office I explained that the faint odour of petrol fumes was an almost everyday event in the Lincoln bomber. The CO looked at me and asked if I had ever seen a man burned to death. I was shaken by his question and said no.

He said he had flown American built Martin Maryland light bombers during the Western Desert campaign in World War Two. He was taxiing when he saw the cockpit of another RAAF Maryland erupt in flames shortly before its pilot was about to start engines. The pilot was unable to escape from the cockpit before the flames overcame him. The subsequent investigation revealed that petrol fumes in the cockpit had been reported by a previous pilot but due to mission priority, rectification had been delayed.

It takes only one tiny spark to ignite petrol fumes as a Piper Aztec pilot found out to his cost on final approach to an airport in USA. A fuel line to the fuel flow indicator came adrift behind the instrument panel and sprayed raw fuel on the pilot’s feet and soaked the carpet. When he selected the landing gear lever to down at 1500 feet on final, a wayward spark from a solenoid behind the instrument panel instantly ignited the petrol fumes, causing a conflagration in the cockpit. The pilot was incapacitated and the Aztec crashed into a lake situated half a mile from the runway. Investigators found severe burn marks to one wrist of the pilot caused by his efforts to reach for a fire extinguisher between the front seats.

In later years I worked as a flying instructor at Essendon where an operator used a Cessna 152 for traffic surveillance. I chanced to be on the tarmac when a newly minted CPL pilot was about to start its engine. Earlier I had noticed extensive green fuel stains on the underside of one wing and signs of fuel dripping down the flaps and the pilot side door. The fuel drain point was wet. I had shown these to the pilot who was in a hurry to get airborne.

He ignored my advice not fly with an obviously unserviceable aircraft, adding he was afraid of losing his job if he didn’t get airborne on time. It turned out the aircraft had been in that condition on many previous flights but pilots were reluctant to write up the defect for job security reasons.
Once burned, twice shy is an old saying. That may be true; but only if you are lucky enough to survive the first time..

Thank you for a timely reminder.

Good stories.
Years ago I learnt another warning regarding fuel leaks : a Bellanca Scout at a gliding camp had fuel stains under one wing, it needed to be investigated. Unfortunately the next week, before any investigation of the leak, one of the wings departed on climb and the pilot was killed. Investigation showed the aircraft had been upside down on the ground sometime earlier and the wooden spar cracked but not picked up during the repair. Probably the fuel tank leak was due to stress on the tank from the wing flexing. :(

It is notable that your unconcerned pilot was an ex Liberator pilot, the aircraft had a reputation for petrol fumes during fuel transfers, bomb doors would be cracked to ventilate the aircraft. Past experience not necessarily a good teacher?

It's an excellent example of law of primacy, you'll do as you've been taught..or have observed in this case.
Also the term 'acceptance of deviance' comes to mind.
It's a great example of human factors and risk assessment.

In Papua, Indonesia, we routinely carry petrol, diesel and JetA DG loads. The drums used for transport are of all sizes, up-to and including 204litre (the old 44's). Most of the drums are not new, many of them having a service-life of potentially several years -and it shows. Additionally, the O-ring bung seals are a valued "personal wrist decoration" almost everywhere.

Harsh experience has taught a few lessons:

1. Plastic shopping bags do not an effective seal-replacement make! A plastic bag in a Toluene-rich environment has a remarkably brief service life! Therefore, if you see a plastic bag being used to replace a stolen O-ring, reject the load.
2. The drums are usually off-loaded by rolling them out the door onto an old tyre on the ground. Positioning of the tyre is critical both to "catch" the ballistic drum AND to prevent the drum being bounced-back into your airframe. It's a reasonably effective method, but inevitably does result in compounding, cumulative damage to the drums. Damaged drums subsequently leak. In the cabin. In-flight. A singularly unpleasant experience. Should I spot a drum in such a damaged state, or detect in-flight (smell, leaks) the drum is treated to a swift blow from the fire-axe to obviate further use. Harsh, but essential.
3. In-flight leaks are exceptionally dangerous, unpleasant and both time-consuming and difficult to properly rectify. The very best remedy is prevention. Ground-crews have to be trained to look-for and reject even minor leaks. Sometimes it's necessary to reject entire loads, to be certain the customer gets the message.
4. Fuel-drains have been known to jam open during drain-checks, showering anyone in the immediate vicinity in copious quantities of raw JetA. The Toluene content of the JetA will very quickly cause skin irritation, discomfort, rashes... it's Nasty stuff. If you or any of your crew are exposed, suspend ops until all personnel have had an opportunity to shower and change. It's one less thing you'll have to deal with in-flight, at a minimum.
5. Plastic drums -of ANY nature are banned in-flight under ICAO DG Regs (as I understand it)... yet they still appear here pretty regularly. Personally I refuse to carry plastic drums, under any circumstances.

I've been pretty extensively exposed to fume in-flight over the years from undetected leaking drums, I've known good friends that have had to stay on the ground several hours after landing to recover from fume exposure.

It's all too easy to rationalise and minimise the risks of leaks and exposure, when the pressure's on... do yourself a favour. Don't.

Centaurus' leaky Lincoln must be an English thing, DH114 Herons tended to leak when filled to capacity, so did my Morris Marina!

I remember it well, young TTE. (Afternoon Thomas) I was one of the last to fly it before the accident. I did the last days towing at the event and then flew the aeroplane back to its base across the ranges in a strong westerly. Plenty of turbulence was experienced. The wing failure was as a result of a compression shake in the wooden mainspar. As a consequence, the fuel tank was taking some of the flight loads and developing cracks which leaked fuel into the wing.

Greeb

Yep, scary ****! Affected so many people.:(

Uh-oh, now where's that piano! :}:

FP.

(Shiver) dammit, wish I hadn't read that. I had the same thing happen to me in an Aero Commander years ago whilst working for a delightful ga company, the owner of which tried to repair/install a fuel flow gauge without the required knowledge and no paperwork only for it to rupture in flight in IMC the next day. The amount of fuel that instantly cascaded down from behind the instrument panel and sloshed around the floor is still truly hard to believe, as was the struggle to fight off total incapacitation. Despite being covered in Avgas and suffering some pretty nasty chemical burns (particularly eyes) I still can't believe that there wasn't a fire and that I survived. I can only imagine that the volume of liquid fuel & lack of oxygen didn't support combustion from the 40 year old Sh!tty electrics that had a tendency to arc out at the best of times (did I say it was a delightful ga company), which were hastily switched off after a mayday call. (Shiver) dammit I wish I hadn't read that.

Joe crazyhorse, did you report the incident?

Fuel stains and bombs.
1. Big green stains on the 206 fuse side beneath the wing root. Leaking bag says the Lame. Swapped out the bag for a newie. Next day...big green stains on the 206 fuse side beneath the wing root. !! Oops.
On closer inspection where the fuel pipe entered the fuselage it was barely touching the skin and dew or rain a droplet could sit there...just like a micro battery?..and had corroded a hole in the pipe.

2. C 180 for skydiving. BIG red stains under the belly. Other pilots had complained of fumes in the cockpit. I shifted the seat and opened some inspection holes and had a visual look around. Lots of red but couldnt see anything of interest....then just as I was replacing a cover a saw a silver wiggly thing moving on the side wall. Que ?
With a careful look it was fuel washing the tin clean at that little spot...a microscopic thread of fuel was squirting out of a minute corrosion hole in the fuel line.
Just the luck of the light to spot it, and a kick in the bum from the owner for entering the defect into the MR.!

3. Turbo Baron - strong fuel smell in the cockpit. When checking the survey camera lens and filter under the fuse, green stains and fumes venting from the drain holes.
Lames called for a look see...and couldnt find anything. Just on taxi Lame asks for some tool...no can see. Must still be under the floor then, no ..couldnt be there. Shortly back at the shop because the gear wouldnt retract..yes that where the tool was.
Flight day is now lost so grabbed a bag and said I'll get back on the aircraft only when you have located that fuel leak.
With more thorough inspection and back under the floor pilots side, a small puddle of fuel was found that was fed from the tank selector cable that ran out of a tube from the
actual fuel cock up by the engine. A seal had failed, hence the dribble...and the fumes.

Moral of the story...and not many do it with the DI...have a good look underneath.

The scary part was before that we had flown at altitude, with oxygen and on descent before landing the captain used to light up a fag !!

These stories of general aviation incidents described here are disturbing and are probably just the tip of the iceberg. I am sure 90% are never officially reported which makes the whole situation worse.:ugh:

Cento...you are right there !!

Do keep your good stories coming , both educational and entertaining