A PA31 pilot diverted under emergency conditions to the nearest suitable airport due to gas fumes an...

Attributes
ACN	1005475
Time
Date	201204
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	PA-31 Navajo/Chieftan/Mojave/T1040
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 135
Flight Phase	Cruise
Route In Use	Direct
Flight Plan	VFR
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Multiengine
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 55 Flight Crew Total 1420 Flight Crew Type 360
Events
Anomaly	Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor

Narrative:

While en-route on a VFR flight plan with flight following from approach I noticed a persistent fuel smell in the cockpit. I told them I had a fuel smell in the cockpit and wanted to know the closest airport with arff and then did divert to that airport. ATC asked if I wanted to declare an emergency and I said yes because now I saw liquid dripping from behind the co-pilot's instrument panel. ATC provided me vectors and the ATIS at the airport even though the flight was in VMC conditions. After reviewing the emergency procedures I decided to make a normal landing and to the ramp rather than evacuate on the runway. Upon landing arff equipment followed me to the ramp as a precaution. I shut down and deplaned the passengers without further incident.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A PA31 pilot diverted under emergency conditions to the nearest suitable airport due to gas fumes and liquid leaks behind the instrument panel.

Narrative: While en-route on a VFR flight plan with flight following from Approach I noticed a persistent fuel smell in the cockpit. I told them I had a fuel smell in the cockpit and wanted to know the closest airport with ARFF and then did divert to that airport. ATC asked if I wanted to declare an emergency and I said yes because now I saw liquid dripping from behind the co-pilot's instrument panel. ATC provided me vectors and the ATIS at the airport even though the flight was in VMC conditions. After reviewing the emergency procedures I decided to make a normal landing and to the ramp rather than evacuate on the runway. Upon landing ARFF equipment followed me to the ramp as a precaution. I shut down and deplaned the passengers without further incident.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.