B737 flight crew reported being dispatched with a left center tank fuel pump on MEL. Once airborne t...

Attributes
ACN	1299730
Time
Date	201510
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Climb
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Fuel Crossfeed
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 85 Flight Crew Type 1027
Person 2
Function	Pilot Flying First Officer
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 7 Flight Crew Total 1738 Flight Crew Type 639
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural MEL Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue

Narrative:

Day two of a three day trip; conducting operating experience for the first officer returning from furlough. During our preflight duties; the first officer and I noticed the left center boost pump was on MEL. We also noticed that the aircraft was over fueled by more than 14;000 pounds. I called dispatch and load planning to remedy this issue. After speaking with both dispatch and load planning I reviewed the MEL and then had the first officer review the MEL as well. Things were getting very busy and we were trying to get the flight out as close to on time as possible. The first officer was very busy because we had a new flight plan based on the increased fuel load. This completely changed our planned gate fuel; cruise altitude; briefing new takeoff data; etc; a lot of new information to go over. We pushed back and made our way to the runway. Passing 14;000 feet; I noticed we were a couple hundred pounds from a fuel imbalance. ATC leveled us off at an intermediate altitude. We ran the QRH and as we watched the quantity indicators; the left main tank was decreasing at an abnormal rate. That instantly led us to think we had a fuel leak. We decided the safest course of action was an air return (about 65 NM). We landed uneventfully.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737 flight crew reported being dispatched with a left center tank fuel pump on MEL. Once airborne the MEL calls for the fuel cross feed to be opened; but this was not accomplished and a fuel imbalance developed. Suspecting a fuel leak the crew returned to the departure airport.

Narrative: Day two of a three day trip; conducting operating experience for the first officer returning from furlough. During our preflight duties; the first officer and I noticed the left center boost pump was on MEL. We also noticed that the aircraft was over fueled by more than 14;000 pounds. I called dispatch and load planning to remedy this issue. After speaking with both dispatch and load planning I reviewed the MEL and then had the first officer review the MEL as well. Things were getting very busy and we were trying to get the flight out as close to on time as possible. The first officer was very busy because we had a new flight plan based on the increased fuel load. This completely changed our planned gate fuel; cruise altitude; briefing new takeoff data; etc; a lot of new information to go over. We pushed back and made our way to the runway. Passing 14;000 feet; I noticed we were a couple hundred pounds from a fuel imbalance. ATC leveled us off at an intermediate altitude. We ran the QRH and as we watched the quantity indicators; the left main tank was decreasing at an abnormal rate. That instantly led us to think we had a fuel leak. We decided the safest course of action was an air return (about 65 NM). We landed uneventfully.

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.