Narrative:

This event; fuel imbalance leading to engine shut down; captain declaring an emergency. Following takeoff; turning from eastbound around a rain cell near the atlantic shoreline; to the northwest to eventually join the departure with departure control; and passing 10;000 ft; VMC on top of all local weather; the pilot not flying noticed fuel imbalance; right wing lower by 600-800 pounds than the left wing tank. Requested stop climb at 11;000 and remain in the vicinity of the departure airport while troubleshooting problem. Running abnormal fuel imbalance checklist lead to right engine shut down and uneventful emergency landing back at our departure airport; slightly above maximum landing weight and following smooth touch down and rollout the arff crew double checked the aircraft for fuel leaks or any hot spots then followed the aircraft to the gate. Adherence to and disciplined timely use of flight prescribed checklists helped catch this fuel system imbalance before structural or flying quality changes may have challenged this crew beyond their abilities. The crews also choose to remove themselves from further flying following the stressful event to decompress and share lessons learned. Maintenance preliminary findings determined the leak was somewhere between the fueling/defueling manifold and the right engine; further maintenance trouble shooting will eventually isolate the problem for future reductions of this type event.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B737-800 crew identified a fuel leak after takeoff so they declared an emergency; completed the QRH; shut the engine down and returned to the departure airport where maintenance identified a crack somewhere in right wing fuel plumbing prior to the engine.

Narrative: This event; fuel imbalance leading to engine shut down; Captain declaring an emergency. Following takeoff; turning from eastbound around a rain cell near the Atlantic shoreline; to the northwest to eventually join the departure with Departure Control; and passing 10;000 FT; VMC on top of all local weather; the pilot not flying noticed fuel imbalance; right wing lower by 600-800 LBS than the left wing tank. Requested stop climb at 11;000 and remain in the vicinity of the departure airport while troubleshooting problem. Running abnormal fuel imbalance checklist lead to right engine shut down and uneventful emergency landing back at our departure airport; slightly above maximum landing weight and following smooth touch down and rollout the ARFF crew double checked the aircraft for fuel leaks or any hot spots then followed the aircraft to the gate. Adherence to and disciplined timely use of flight prescribed checklists helped catch this fuel system imbalance before structural or flying quality changes may have challenged this crew beyond their abilities. The crews also choose to remove themselves from further flying following the stressful event to decompress and share lessons learned. Maintenance preliminary findings determined the leak was somewhere between the fueling/defueling manifold and the right engine; further maintenance trouble shooting will eventually isolate the problem for future reductions of this type event.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 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.