Narrative:

Flight attendant reported fumes from fwd and left aft lavs thought to be nail polish remover. Later passengers report smell of fuel from lavs. I blocked lavs and turned on seatbelt sign for descent. Maintenance was notified and confirmed that it was fuel. Dispatch notified to call station, so that other aircraft would not be serviced with that lav truck. Callback conversation with reporter revealed the following information: the reporter stated the aircraft was serviced by a fixed base operator contracted for overnight servicing. The reporter said the lav service truck was not observed actually servicing the airplane, but when later checked was found to have automotive fuel contamination. The reporter stated the cabin attendant attendants at first reported the smell of nail polish, but later passenger reports correctly identified automotive fuel. The reporter said on the ground the lavatories were flushed three times to clear the system of the automotive fuel odor. Callback from 585521: the reporter stated the lav service truck was not observed servicing the airplane during the walk around check. The reporter said the configuration of the piping on the truck was unfamiliar and could not understand how the gasoline was added to the blue water tank.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: AN MD80 IN CRUISE AT FL310 DISCOVERED THE FORWARD AND AFT LAVATORIES HAD BEEN SERVICED WITH AUTOMOTIVE FUEL.

Narrative: FA RPTED FUMES FROM FWD AND LEFT AFT LAVS THOUGHT TO BE NAIL POLISH REMOVER. LATER PASSENGERS RPT SMELL OF FUEL FROM LAVS. I BLOCKED LAVS AND TURNED ON SEATBELT SIGN FOR DSCNT. MAINT WAS NOTIFIED AND CONFIRMED THAT IT WAS FUEL. DISPATCH NOTIFIED TO CALL STATION, SO THAT OTHER ACFT WOULD NOT BE SERVICED WITH THAT LAV TRUCK. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE RPTR STATED THE ACFT WAS SERVICED BY A FIXED BASE OPERATOR CONTRACTED FOR OVERNIGHT SERVICING. THE RPTR SAID THE LAV SVC TRUCK WAS NOT OBSERVED ACTUALLY SERVICING THE AIRPLANE, BUT WHEN LATER CHECKED WAS FOUND TO HAVE AUTOMOTIVE FUEL CONTAMINATION. THE RPTR STATED THE CAB ATTENDANTS AT FIRST RPTED THE SMELL OF NAIL POLISH, BUT LATER PAX RPTS CORRECTLY IDENTIFIED AUTOMOTIVE FUEL. THE RPTR SAID ON THE GND THE LAVATORIES WERE FLUSHED THREE TIMES TO CLR THE SYSTEM OF THE AUTOMOTIVE FUEL ODOR. CALLBACK FROM 585521: THE RPTR STATED THE LAV SVC TRUCK WAS NOT OBSERVED SERVICING THE AIRPLANE DURING THE WALK AROUND CHK. THE RPTR SAID THE CONFIGURATION OF THE PIPING ON THE TRUCK WAS UNFAMILIAR AND COULD NOT UNDERSTAND HOW THE GASOLINE WAS ADDED TO THE BLUE WATER TANK.

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.