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MD11 flight crew discovers airborne that they are not in compliance with an MEL requirement to be dispatched with no fuel in the tail tank.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 885609 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201004 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0001-0600 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | MD-11 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Parked |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Fuel System |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Pilot Not Flying Relief Pilot |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Experience | Flight Crew Total 5500 Flight Crew Type 1300 |
| Person 2 | |
| Function | Captain Pilot Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 12 Flight Crew Total 11000 Flight Crew Type 3000 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural MEL Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy |
Narrative:
I watched the captain and the first officer complying with the aom procedures for the fuel system in manual. Crew commented on not being able to turn the tail tank boost pump on - per aom procedures. We noted that the tail tank boost pump circuit breaker was collared; thus this seemed to be in conflict with our aom procedures. We then called maintenance back to ask about this issue. He said that the MEL procedure was complied with; yet we explained to him that the aom procedure says we need to be able to turn the tail tank boost pump on. We then called maintenance control to try to work this out. They seemed as confused as we were. No solution was offered yet. They told us that we might want to confer with an assistant chief pilot. There was no solution offered. Maintenance then came back on the flight deck and un-collared the circuit breaker and said the MEL procedure had been complied with. We were then able to operate the tail tank boost pump as per the aom procedure. It was not until we were airborne that we discovered we had missed a note on the MEL stating 'maintenance will verify tail tank is empty.' we had fuel in the tail tank. We closely monitored fuel during the flight and landed uneventfully.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: MD11 Flight Crew discovers airborne that they are not in compliance with an MEL requirement to be dispatched with no fuel in the tail tank.
Narrative: I watched the Captain and the First Officer complying with the AOM procedures for the fuel system in manual. Crew commented on not being able to turn the tail tank boost pump on - per AOM procedures. We noted that the tail tank boost pump CB was collared; thus this seemed to be in conflict with our AOM procedures. We then called maintenance back to ask about this issue. He said that the MEL procedure was complied with; yet we explained to him that the AOM procedure says we need to be able to turn the tail tank boost pump on. We then called Maintenance Control to try to work this out. They seemed as confused as we were. No solution was offered yet. They told us that we might want to confer with an Assistant Chief Pilot. There was no solution offered. Maintenance then came back on the flight deck and un-collared the circuit breaker and said the MEL procedure had been complied with. We were then able to operate the tail tank boost pump as per the AOM procedure. It was not until we were airborne that we discovered we had missed a note on the MEL stating 'maintenance will verify tail tank is empty.' We had fuel in the tail tank. We closely monitored fuel during the flight and landed uneventfully.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.