CRJ200 flight crew reports strong fuel odors during approach after starting the APU. APU is secured ...

Attributes
ACN	814575
Time
Date	200812
Local Time Of Day	0601 To 1200
Place
Locale Reference	airport : zzz.airport
State Reference	US
Altitude	agl single value : 10000
Environment
Flight Conditions	IMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	Regional Jet 200 ER&LR
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	descent : approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp
ASRS Report	814575
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : commercial
ASRS Report	814981
Events
Anomaly	aircraft equipment problem : critical other anomaly
Independent Detector	other flight crewa other flight crewb
Resolutory Action	flight crew : declared emergency flight crew : overcame equipment problem
Consequence	other
Supplementary
Problem Areas	Aircraft
Primary Problem	Aircraft

Narrative:

Inbound to ZZZ at 10000 ft and 250 kts; we attempted to start the APU and it did not light off. We discontinued the start and turned off the power/fuel. Then after at least 2 minutes we tried to start the APU a second time at about 6;000 ft and it started normally. After 1 minute and before we transferred the bleeds we encountered a very strong odor of jet fuel with no EICAS cautions or warnings. We then donned the oxygen masks and established communication. We continued the approach into ZZZ since it was the nearest suitable airport and declared an emergency with the crash fire rescue trucks standing by. We contacted the flight attendant and asked her if she noticed the jet fuel fumes and she answered yes. We told her to say there is an emergency and will be landing soon. We landed without incident and stopped on the taxiway to let crash fire rescue check out the aircraft for fire or excessive fuel leakage. There was none and we taxied to the gate with crash fire rescue following us. We contacted operations; dispatch and maintenance about the event.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CRJ200 flight crew reports strong fuel odors during approach after starting the APU. APU is secured and fumes go away.

Narrative: Inbound to ZZZ at 10000 ft and 250 kts; we attempted to start the APU and it did not light off. We discontinued the start and turned off the power/fuel. Then after at least 2 minutes we tried to start the APU a second time at about 6;000 ft and it started normally. After 1 minute and before we transferred the bleeds we encountered a very strong odor of jet fuel with no EICAS cautions or warnings. We then donned the oxygen masks and established communication. We continued the approach into ZZZ since it was the nearest suitable airport and declared an emergency with the Crash Fire Rescue trucks standing by. We contacted the flight attendant and asked her if she noticed the jet fuel fumes and she answered yes. We told her to say there is an emergency and will be landing soon. We landed without incident and stopped on the taxiway to let crash fire rescue check out the aircraft for fire or excessive fuel leakage. There was none and we taxied to the gate with Crash Fire Rescue following us. We contacted operations; Dispatch and maintenance about the event.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of May 2009 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.