A md-80 in climb at FL200 discovered center tank not feeding fuel. Forward pump circuit breaker's ph...

Attributes
ACN	496289
Time
Date	200011
Day	Sun
Local Time Of Day	1201 To 1800
Place
Locale Reference	airport : iah.airport
State Reference	TX
Altitude	msl single value : 20000
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	artcc : zhu.artcc tower : mia.tower
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	MD-80 Super 80
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Navigation In Use	other vortac
Flight Phase	climbout : intermediate altitude
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : flight engineer pilot : cfi pilot : atp
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 200 flight time total : 17000 flight time type : 1500
ASRS Report	496289
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : multi engine pilot : instrument pilot : commercial
Events
Anomaly	aircraft equipment problem : critical other anomaly other
Independent Detector	aircraft equipment other aircraft equipment : overhead a.c. meter other flight crewa other flight crewb
Resolutory Action	flight crew : diverted to another airport
Consequence	other
Supplementary
Problem Areas	Chart Or Publication Company Flight Crew Human Performance Aircraft
Primary Problem	Aircraft

Narrative:

On climb out found center tank fuel not feeding. Consulted flight manual checklist center tank fuel does not feed and also found 2 of 3 fuel pump circuit breaker's for center tank fuel fwd pump popped. Complied with checklist after attempting on reset of these circuit breaker's which popped again. Pulled the one remaining circuit breaker for 'C' phase. Contacted maintenance control and dispatch, and returned to houston for overweight landing. A later review of flight manual under electrical circuit breaker popped found that fuel pump circuit breaker's should not be reset. A contributing factor was other circuit breaker's (which are resettable) popped as well, leading me to believe this was an electrical, not fuel pump problem. Callback conversation with reporter revealed the following information: the reporter stated the airplane had an electrical problem on the left 115V AC 'a' phase bus as all system powered by this bus failed. The reporter stated the forward center tank boost pump had two breakers tripped 'a' and 'B' phases and per the reference handbook one reset was allowed, but the breakers again tripped. The reporter said maintenance has not advised the crew of the corrective action. The reporter stated the crew was concerned about the conflict between the reference handbook and the flight manual on resetting boost pump circuit breaker's. The reporter said the reference handbook allows one reset of the boost pump circuit breaker's and the flight manual prohibits any reset.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A MD-80 IN CLB AT FL200 DISCOVERED CTR TANK NOT FEEDING FUEL. FORWARD PUMP CB'S PHASE 'A' AND 'B' TRIPPED. OTHER SYS FED FROM 'A' PHASE ALSO FAILED. RETURNED TO IAH.

Narrative: ON CLBOUT FOUND CTR TANK FUEL NOT FEEDING. CONSULTED FLT MANUAL CHKLIST CTR TANK FUEL DOES NOT FEED AND ALSO FOUND 2 OF 3 FUEL PUMP CB'S FOR CTR TANK FUEL FWD PUMP POPPED. COMPLIED WITH CHKLIST AFTER ATTEMPTING ON RESET OF THESE CB'S WHICH POPPED AGAIN. PULLED THE ONE REMAINING CB FOR 'C' PHASE. CONTACTED MAINT CTL AND DISPATCH, AND RETURNED TO HOUSTON FOR OVERWT LNDG. A LATER REVIEW OF FLT MANUAL UNDER ELECTRICAL CB POPPED FOUND THAT FUEL PUMP CB'S SHOULD NOT BE RESET. A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR WAS OTHER CB'S (WHICH ARE RESETTABLE) POPPED AS WELL, LEADING ME TO BELIEVE THIS WAS AN ELECTRICAL, NOT FUEL PUMP PROB. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE RPTR STATED THE AIRPLANE HAD AN ELECTRICAL PROB ON THE L 115V AC 'A' PHASE BUS AS ALL SYS POWERED BY THIS BUS FAILED. THE RPTR STATED THE FORWARD CTR TANK BOOST PUMP HAD TWO BREAKERS TRIPPED 'A' AND 'B' PHASES AND PER THE REFERENCE HANDBOOK ONE RESET WAS ALLOWED, BUT THE BREAKERS AGAIN TRIPPED. THE RPTR SAID MAINT HAS NOT ADVISED THE CREW OF THE CORRECTIVE ACTION. THE RPTR STATED THE CREW WAS CONCERNED ABOUT THE CONFLICT BTWN THE REFERENCE HANDBOOK AND THE FLT MANUAL ON RESETTING BOOST PUMP CB'S. THE RPTR SAID THE REFERENCE HANDBOOK ALLOWS ONE RESET OF THE BOOST PUMP CB'S AND THE FLT MANUAL PROHIBITS ANY RESET.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.

A md-80 in climb at FL200 discovered center tank not feeding fuel. Forward pump circuit breaker's phase 'a' and 'B' tripped. Other system fed from 'a' phase also failed. Returned to iah.