An MD80's fueling panel power switch was left on after fueling. When the fuel panel door was closed ...

Narrative:

At 10;000 ft MSL notice a 2000 pounds lateral fuel imbalance. Right main tank indicated 4400 pounds; left main tank indicated 6450 pounds. All main tank fuel pumps on; no circuit breakers popped. Executed QRH procedure; which led to standard cross feed procedure. This corrected the imbalance problem prior to landing. No divert required; no emergency declared. Upon maintenance action we were informed that the fueler had forced the fuel panel door closed with the power switch still on breaking the power switch to the on position and leaving the left fueling valve open. This led to fuel transfer from the right main tank. Four and a half units of right rudder trim confirmed imbalance; subsequent was flight normal.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An MD80's fueling panel power switch was left ON after fueling. When the fuel panel door was closed the switch was broken allowing a fuel imbalance to develop in-flight.

Narrative: At 10;000 FT MSL notice a 2000 LBS lateral fuel imbalance. Right main tank indicated 4400 LBS; left main tank indicated 6450 LBS. All main tank fuel pumps on; no circuit breakers popped. Executed QRH procedure; which led to standard cross feed procedure. This corrected the imbalance problem prior to landing. No divert required; no emergency declared. Upon maintenance action we were informed that the fueler had forced the fuel panel door closed with the power switch still ON breaking the power switch to the ON position and leaving the left fueling valve open. This led to fuel transfer from the right main tank. Four and a half units of right rudder trim confirmed imbalance; subsequent was flight normal.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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	842589
Time
Date	200907
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.ARTCC
State Reference	US
Environment
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	MD-80 Series (DC-9-80) Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Climb
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Fuel Distribution System
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

An MD80's fueling panel power switch was left on after fueling. When the fuel panel door was closed the switch was broken allowing a fuel imbalance to develop in-flight.