B737-800 captain noted a 1;000 pound fuel imbalance at the top of climb and rebalanced the fuel. Dur...

Attributes
ACN	1326101
Time
Date	201601
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.ARTCC
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737-800
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Cruise
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Powerplant Fuel Distribution
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue

Narrative:

At top of climb; left main tank quantity was 1;000 pounds less than right. Balanced fuel. During rest of flight left fuel quantity continued to decrease faster than right. Referred to QRH procedure for possible fuel leak. Conferred with maintenance control; duty officer; and dispatch. Continued to destination where we landed without incident. Fuel upon arrival was near required alternate fuel reserve.upon arrival at gate maintenance discovered fuel leak in left engine. Shut engine down and deplaned passengers without injury. Swapped to new aircraft and continued.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737-800 Captain noted a 1;000 pound fuel imbalance at the top of climb and rebalanced the fuel. During the rest of the flight the left engine consumes fuel faster than the right and a fuel leak is suspected. Upon landing a fuel leak is confirmed by Maintenance.

Narrative: At top of climb; left main tank quantity was 1;000 LBS less than right. Balanced fuel. During rest of flight left fuel quantity continued to decrease faster than right. Referred to QRH procedure for possible fuel leak. Conferred with Maintenance Control; Duty Officer; and Dispatch. Continued to destination where we landed without incident. Fuel upon arrival was near required alternate fuel reserve.Upon arrival at gate maintenance discovered fuel leak in left engine. Shut engine down and deplaned passengers without injury. Swapped to new aircraft and continued.

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.

B737-800 captain noted a 1;000 pound fuel imbalance at the top of climb and rebalanced the fuel. During the rest of the flight the left engine consumes fuel faster than the right and a fuel leak is suspected. Upon landing a fuel leak is confirmed by maintenance.