An A320's #2 center fuel tank boost pump was MEL'd and after takeoff the crew had difficulty startin...

Narrative:

We departed with 30;000 pounds total fuel on board and 2;700 pounds in the center tank. We were dispatched in accordance with MEL XXXX (center #2 boost pump inoperative). After takeoff; we noticed that the center #1 boost pump failed to start feeding the engines. We monitored the fuel system and referenced the flight manual. The fuel panel configuration from the MEL compliance was xfeed-on after takeoff. This created a fuel imbalance and subsequent fuel auto feed fault ECAM (even though the center tank was not feeding). Accomplishing the auto feed fault ECAM; we selected fuel mode select to manual. This started the center #1 pump feeding to the engines. At this point we were going to call dispatch and maintenance to conference; but we then got a bcl 2 (battery control limiter) fault ECAM. At this point we were at FL360 and elected to divert. We declared an emergency and landed overweight (146;400 pounds). The diversion was uneventful. Upon conferencing with maintenance it was determined that the underlying problem was a fuel auto feed system malfunction. Since we didn't need center tank fuel to continue to our destination we accepted the additional deferral for fuel auto feed fault and continued. The divert station folks; supervisors; customer service representatives; mechanics; and fueler could not have provided more superior service for our diversion. They are all to be commended.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An A320's #2 center fuel tank boost pump was MEL'd and after takeoff the crew had difficulty starting the #1 Center Fuel Boost pump; so they declared an emergency and diverted. While troubleshooting the fuel problem the BCL2 ECAM alerted.

Narrative: We departed with 30;000 LBS total fuel on board and 2;700 LBS in the center tank. We were dispatched in accordance with MEL XXXX (center #2 boost pump inoperative). After takeoff; we noticed that the center #1 boost pump failed to start feeding the engines. We monitored the fuel system and referenced the flight manual. The fuel panel configuration from the MEL compliance was XFEED-ON after takeoff. This created a fuel imbalance and subsequent fuel auto feed fault ECAM (even though the center tank was not feeding). Accomplishing the auto feed fault ECAM; we selected fuel mode select to manual. This started the center #1 pump feeding to the engines. At this point we were going to call Dispatch and Maintenance to conference; but we then got a BCL 2 (Battery Control Limiter) fault ECAM. At this point we were at FL360 and elected to divert. We declared an emergency and landed overweight (146;400 LBS). The diversion was uneventful. Upon conferencing with Maintenance it was determined that the underlying problem was a fuel auto feed system malfunction. Since we didn't need center tank fuel to continue to our destination we accepted the additional deferral for fuel auto feed fault and continued. The divert station folks; supervisors; customer service representatives; mechanics; and fueler could not have provided more superior service for our diversion. They are all to be commended.

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.

Attributes
ACN	964519
Time
Date	201108
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	A320
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Cruise
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Fuel Booster Pump
Person 1
Function	Captain Check Pilot Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 180 Flight Crew Total 11000 Flight Crew Type 5000
Person 2
Function	Pilot Not Flying First Officer
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 270 Flight Crew Total 10900 Flight Crew Type 4975
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue

An A320's #2 center fuel tank boost pump was MEL'd and after takeoff the crew had difficulty starting the #1 center fuel boost pump; so they declared an emergency and diverted. While troubleshooting the fuel problem the BCL2 ECAM alerted.