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During an extended ground delay with the APU running from a wing tank fuel pump; an imbalance developed below the imbal alert threshold. After takeoff imbal alerted and the crew then realized the before start checklist was incorrectly completed and no procedure covered the ground APU fuel configuration.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1183618 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201406 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | B737-800 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Climb |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Other Documentation |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Pilot Not Flying |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Other / Unknown Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue |
Narrative:
Fuel imbal light after takeoff; the 1;200 pound imbalance was corrected by the QRH procedure. This was entered in the logbook.we had an extended ground delay where we need to run the APU for cooling and per procedure for extended APU operation we positioned an AC pump on. And per procedure; because we were not in the cockpit for this delay; we could not run a center pump; the manual does not address how to avoid an imbalance in this particular situation. But most importantly; I will be more diligent about checking the distribution of the fuel before starting the engines and responding; 'checked' to 'fuel quantity and distribution.' note: the QRH procedure was followed; but it makes no mention of what to do if there is fuel in the center tank. This differs from the operating manual's fuel balancing procedure that has you turn off the center pumps.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: During an extended ground delay with the APU running from a wing tank fuel pump; an imbalance developed below the IMBAL alert threshold. After takeoff IMBAL alerted and the crew then realized the Before Start Checklist was incorrectly completed and no procedure covered the ground APU fuel configuration.
Narrative: Fuel IMBAL light after takeoff; the 1;200 LB imbalance was corrected by the QRH procedure. This was entered in the logbook.We had an extended ground delay where we need to run the APU for cooling and per procedure for extended APU operation we positioned an AC pump on. And per procedure; because we were not in the cockpit for this delay; we could not run a center pump; the manual does not address how to avoid an imbalance in this particular situation. But most importantly; I will be more diligent about checking the distribution of the fuel before starting the engines and responding; 'checked' to 'Fuel Quantity and Distribution.' Note: The QRH procedure was followed; but it makes no mention of what to do if there is fuel in the center tank. This differs from the operating manual's Fuel Balancing procedure that has you turn off the center pumps.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.