A B737-700 crew discovered a fuel imbalance during climbout caused by a fuel crossfeed fault with a ...

Narrative:

During climbout; an imbalance in the main fuel tanks was discovered. There was around 2;000 pounds in the center tanks and the main tanks were full at departure. The tanks were now showing around 700 pounds less fuel in the left main tank and decreasing while the right main tank showed an ever so slight decrease. Simultaneously; we sent an ACARS to dispatch about the situation and consulted the QRH. We felt the most likely culprit was the fuel crossfeed valve and used the crossfeed selector inop checklist; which directed us to check the circuit breaker. It was found to be tripped. The next step was to check that sufficient fuel was available to both engines. We determined there was not enough fuel to complete the original 2.5-hours flight. At that time; there was still no word from dispatch so we used commercial radio to establish contact. While we waited to hear from the dispatcher; we decided to divert to a much closer station and advised ATC of our intentions and also advised the dispatcher as well when we made contact. Passengers were informed and the rest of the flight was uneventful. We landed with an imbalance of approximately 2;600 pounds.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B737-700 crew discovered a fuel imbalance during climbout caused by a fuel crossfeed fault with a circuit breaker tripped so; while completing the QRH; the crew diverted to landed with a 2;600 LBS imbalance as the left main tank was depleting.

Narrative: During climbout; an imbalance in the main fuel tanks was discovered. There was around 2;000 LBS in the center tanks and the main tanks were full at departure. The tanks were now showing around 700 LBS less fuel in the left main tank and decreasing while the right main tank showed an ever so slight decrease. Simultaneously; we sent an ACARS to Dispatch about the situation and consulted the QRH. We felt the most likely culprit was the fuel crossfeed valve and used the Crossfeed Selector Inop Checklist; which directed us to check the circuit breaker. It was found to be tripped. The next step was to check that sufficient fuel was available to both engines. We determined there was not enough fuel to complete the original 2.5-hours flight. At that time; there was still no word from Dispatch so we used commercial radio to establish contact. While we waited to hear from the Dispatcher; we decided to divert to a much closer Station and advised ATC of our intentions and also advised the Dispatcher as well when we made contact. Passengers were informed and the rest of the flight was uneventful. We landed with an imbalance of approximately 2;600 LBS.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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	1143655
Time
Date	201401
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.ARTCC
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737-700
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Climb
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Fuel Crossfeed
Person 1
Function	Captain
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue

A B737-700 crew discovered a fuel imbalance during climbout caused by a fuel crossfeed fault with a circuit breaker tripped so; while completing the QRH; the crew diverted to landed with a 2;600 pounds imbalance as the left main tank was depleting.