A310 first officer experiences a fuel imbalance shortly after takeoff which cannot be corrected. Fli...

Narrative:

Landed with fuel in outer tanks exceeding limits. Weight and balance fuel was lo 6.5 li 4.6 C .5 trm 0 ri 4.5 ro 6.5. Total 22.7 checked and verified. After takeoff at 5;000 ft AGL ECAM alert for fuel. Fuel page and overhead showed lo 6.5 li 5.8 center .5 ri 3.3 ro 3.8. 19.9 total. Referred to QRH for fuel imbalance and cross feed procedures. Note in QRH warned against feeding both engines from one outer fuel tank. Outer tank to tank limits were not to be fixed. Captain chose to balance wing fuel load and accept outer fuel load imbalance on landing since we could never correct the problem in flight. Landing fuel lo 6.5 li 1.2 C .8 ri 1.5 ro 3.7 total 13.7. Maintenance informed of situation and they found refueling panel configured incorrectly. Transfer valve switch was left on. This was cause of imbalance. Return flight on same aircraft with no issues. Improper refueling panel configuration. Emphasis on attention to detail. Plane wasn't refueled during turn. Fuel was only transferred.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A310 First Officer experiences a fuel imbalance shortly after takeoff which cannot be corrected. Flight continues to destination where Maintenance finds the Transfer valve switch was left on at the previous station.

Narrative: Landed with fuel in outer tanks exceeding limits. Weight and balance fuel was LO 6.5 LI 4.6 C .5 trm 0 RI 4.5 RO 6.5. Total 22.7 checked and verified. After takeoff at 5;000 FT AGL ECAM alert for fuel. Fuel page and overhead showed LO 6.5 LI 5.8 CTR .5 RI 3.3 RO 3.8. 19.9 total. Referred to QRH for fuel imbalance and cross feed procedures. Note in QRH warned against feeding both engines from one outer fuel tank. Outer tank to tank limits were not to be fixed. Captain chose to balance wing fuel load and accept outer fuel load imbalance on landing since we could never correct the problem in flight. Landing fuel LO 6.5 LI 1.2 C .8 RI 1.5 RO 3.7 total 13.7. Maintenance informed of situation and they found refueling panel configured incorrectly. Transfer valve switch was left on. This was cause of imbalance. Return flight on same aircraft with no issues. Improper refueling panel configuration. Emphasis on attention to detail. Plane wasn't refueled during turn. Fuel was only transferred.

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.

Attributes
ACN	1115100
Time
Date	201309
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	A310
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Takeoff
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Fuel System
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Flying
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue

A310 first officer experiences a fuel imbalance shortly after takeoff which cannot be corrected. Flight continues to destination where maintenance finds the transfer valve switch was left on at the previous station.