Oops, not enough fuel

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pelmet
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Oops, not enough fuel

Post by pelmet »

It can happen and did to a few colleagues of mine. I was lucky as I never had a misfuelling but on the current aircraft when I get to the seat belt sign, I check the fuel on board against the flightplan. Some aircraft had it in the checklist as well such as "_____lbs sufficient" response.


"Jazz flight 7904, a de Havilland DHC-8-102 aircraft, was en route to Toronto LBPIA from
Cleveland, Ohio, when the flight crew noted that the fuel was lower than expected. Further
investigation by the flight crew showed that the aircraft had been refueled with 1000 lbs less than
what had been requested. With active weather in the area, numerous diversions around weather
cells and holding delays, the flight crew became concerned that the fuel quantity would drop below
the required minimums. The flight crew declared an emergency due to low fuel and was given
priority handling. The aircraft landed without further incident."
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Heliian
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Re: Oops, not enough fuel

Post by Heliian »

OR..... they were tired of waiting to get in and declared the emerg for priority landing slot, happens more than you think.
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atphat
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Re: Oops, not enough fuel

Post by atphat »

Heliian wrote:happens more than you think.
Well that's just not true.
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PointyEngine
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Re: Oops, not enough fuel

Post by PointyEngine »

If the Capt had a hot date lined up at KFC after shift, anything is possible!!
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KAG
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Re: Oops, not enough fuel

Post by KAG »

The paperwork alone would prevent most pilots from pulling such a stunk.
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Johnny#5
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Re: Oops, not enough fuel

Post by Johnny#5 »

Heliian wrote:OR..... they were tired of waiting to get in and declared the emerg for priority landing slot, happens more than you think.
Image
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av8ts
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Re: Oops, not enough fuel

Post by av8ts »

Unacceptable that this flight should depart with 1000lbs less than required. Two pilots not doing their job. Lucky for them at Jazz there will be just a stern talking to and maybe ANOTHER fuel check added to the checklist.
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CID
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Re: Oops, not enough fuel

Post by CID »

What does that mean...."unacceptable"?? That they absolutely didn't fulfil their job description and should be fired? A little over the top don't you think?? It was more than a trivial mistake but the crew certainly redeemed themselves by doing the right thing when the mistake was discovered. They will be more valuable to the company now that they've had a real life lesson on how insidious complacency can be.
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upintheair_
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Re: Oops, not enough fuel

Post by upintheair_ »

Ok, so I don't fly anything that big yet but just out of curiosity. If the fueler had filled out the paperwork saying that it was filled as requested, how obvious would it be to the pilots that it was 1000lbs low? 1000lbs of Jet-A is only around 500L. Quite a small amount actually. How accurate are the fuel gauges and systems on board to measure fuel?
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arctic_slim
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Re: Oops, not enough fuel

Post by arctic_slim »

I don't know about Jazz SOPs' but for me, we have a fuel check as part of the briefing for departure and as part of the before start checks. We compare it to the minimum we need and the amount we requested. There is also a fuel check for the approach briefing.
As for the gauges i'd say they are accurate and a 500 lb a side difference would be very noticeable on them. Those gauges only go to around 3000lbs a side through a 270 degree arc, so 500 less would be noticeable for sure.
I guess the fuel check was not done before departure in this case, who knows.
What the fueller wrote on his sheet should not even matter to the pilots, it's what's in the tanks that gets checked.
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A346Dude
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Re: Oops, not enough fuel

Post by A346Dude »

How many minutes at cruise will 1,000 lbs get you in the Dash?
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leftoftrack
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Re: Oops, not enough fuel

Post by leftoftrack »

Jazz has a fuel check on their briefing. The pilots will enter this into the SMS along with any other possible fatigue or human factors issues they will have. They will be counciled by mgmt with the union present with a possible human factors course and they will return to their jobs. Mistakes happen, unless you're doc
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upintheair_
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Re: Oops, not enough fuel

Post by upintheair_ »

leftoftrack wrote: unless you're doc

Heh
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DHC-1 Jockey
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Re: Oops, not enough fuel

Post by DHC-1 Jockey »

I left Jazz last year, but the Before Start Checklist is read by the F/O and is verified by the Captain. When it gets to the fuel, the F/O states "Fuel." The Captain then states the fuel onboard as read off the gauges. The F/O is then supposed to reference the flightplan and state the fuel required for the flight, and obviously the numbers should jive.

Unless the checklist has changed, there is no line for "Fuel" after the before start checks, but once reaching Top of Climb, a fuel check should be done at least once, and every X number of minutes (I can't remember) if the flight is over a certain duration. As well, a fuel check is done as part of the TSAFE briefing if doing a hold.

Most likely scenario for the mistake? The Captain misread the gauges but happened to state the correct required fuel value for the flight (by random chance or perhaps knew the required fuel beforehand and just expected the gauges to show that number) and the F/O verified the stated number off the flightplan without referencing the gauges themselves. I always made it a habit as F/O to verify what the Captain was doing while I read the checklist, that way there is double redundancy so to speak.

The fuel burn at cruise for a 100 series is anywhere from 1000-1300 lbs/hr depending on altitude.
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