Air carrier medium large transport departure with center tank boost pumps operating intermittently.

Attributes
ACN	184951
Time
Date	199107
Day	Sun
Local Time Of Day	1201 To 1800
Place
Locale Reference	atc facility : zzz
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	Mixed
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	Medium Large Transport, Low Wing, 2 Turbojet Eng
Navigation In Use	Other
Flight Phase	climbout : intermediate altitude cruise other
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 200 flight time total : 15000
ASRS Report	184951
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : atp
Events
Anomaly	aircraft equipment problem : critical non adherence : published procedure
Independent Detector	other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	none taken : anomaly accepted
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Aircraft
Air Traffic Incident	other

Narrative:

Picked up aircraft with inoperative center fuel pump (placarded inoperative). Previous writeup was that fuel was not flowing out of center tank. The pump switches were cycled on/off and fuel then started flowing from center tank. Maintenance placarded forward center tank pump inoperative, all indications on the ground were that all pumps were ok. On climb and cruise the same problem occurred but now the abnormal procedure would have us turn off all outboard pumps leaving 1 center pump to run both engines. The problem was our 1 center pump was indicating no fuel flow. The procedure would have left us with no pumps. Reviewing all writeups again we elected to turn on all pumps although 1 was placarded inoperative. The system operated normal.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ACR MLG DEP WITH CENTER TANK BOOST PUMPS OPERATING INTERMITTENTLY.

Narrative: PICKED UP ACFT WITH INOP CENTER FUEL PUMP (PLACARDED INOP). PREVIOUS WRITEUP WAS THAT FUEL WAS NOT FLOWING OUT OF CENTER TANK. THE PUMP SWITCHES WERE CYCLED ON/OFF AND FUEL THEN STARTED FLOWING FROM CENTER TANK. MAINT PLACARDED FORWARD CENTER TANK PUMP INOP, ALL INDICATIONS ON THE GND WERE THAT ALL PUMPS WERE OK. ON CLB AND CRUISE THE SAME PROBLEM OCCURRED BUT NOW THE ABNORMAL PROC WOULD HAVE US TURN OFF ALL OUTBOARD PUMPS LEAVING 1 CENTER PUMP TO RUN BOTH ENGS. THE PROBLEM WAS OUR 1 CENTER PUMP WAS INDICATING NO FUEL FLOW. THE PROC WOULD HAVE LEFT US WITH NO PUMPS. REVIEWING ALL WRITEUPS AGAIN WE ELECTED TO TURN ON ALL PUMPS ALTHOUGH 1 WAS PLACARDED INOP. THE SYS OPERATED NORMAL.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.