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MD10 captain reported a fuel imbalance alert while airborne. It appeared the auto fuel controller feature was correcting the imbalance; when in actuality it was malfunctioning; and exacerbating the problem.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1512312 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201801 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1801-2400 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Light | Night |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | DC-10 30 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Initial Approach |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Fuel Trim Pump |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Captain Pilot Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue |
Narrative:
On short final we received a level 2 fuel unbalance alert; we selected the fuel synoptic and I saw fuel transferring so I thought the auto fuel controller was correcting the problem. After landing and upon further examination we realized that the fuel controller was causing the unbalance and getting worse. We may have landed exceeding the lateral fuel balance limit. This aircraft has a long history of this problem and prior write ups indicate that the controller corrected the problem when in fact it appears to only taken corrective action after switching controllers. Just prior to starting the approach the fuel was within a few pounds of being balanced. I believe this problem was miss diagnosed and deferred-under an MEL that required the use of the auto controller when that was the cause of the problem.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: MD10 Captain reported a fuel imbalance alert while airborne. It appeared the Auto Fuel Controller feature was correcting the imbalance; when in actuality it was malfunctioning; and exacerbating the problem.
Narrative: On short final we received a level 2 Fuel Unbalance alert; we selected the fuel synoptic and I saw fuel transferring so I thought the Auto Fuel Controller was correcting the problem. After landing and upon further examination we realized that the fuel controller was causing the unbalance and getting worse. We may have landed exceeding the lateral fuel balance limit. This aircraft has a long history of this problem and prior write ups indicate that the controller corrected the problem when in fact it appears to only taken corrective action after switching controllers. Just prior to starting the approach the fuel was within a few pounds of being balanced. I believe this problem was miss diagnosed and deferred-under an MEL that required the use of the auto controller when that was the cause of the problem.
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.