Following fueling the captain of a be-400 detected substantial amounts of fuel leaking from the left...

Narrative:

After fueling with full wings and 210 gallons in the trunk; I was completing preflight checks in the cockpit when I heard a whooshing sound and smelled jet fuel. I observed fuel running in a heavy stream from the left wing outboard sniffle valve. I removed electrical power and had the gpu shut down. We notified the FBO; crash fire rescue equipment and our chief pilot. The FBO provided a trash can in which we caught about 3 gallons of fuel. A mechanic working on another BE400 nearby manipulated the sniffle valve until the flow stopped. Fire response applied absorbent to the fuel spill and swept it up.I'm not sure of the cause. The ramp was inclined somewhat toward the left wing; but not abnormally. The sun was out and heating the ramp; causing heat shimmering; but it was by no means a hot day. Temperature on the ramp was around 60 degrees F. My best guess is a malfunction of the sniffle valve itself; because manipulating the valve stopped the flow.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Following fueling the Captain of a BE-400 detected substantial amounts of fuel leaking from the left wing 'sniffle' valve. CFR was called for hazardous material control and a nearby mechanic was able to manipulate the valve to stop the leak.

Narrative: After fueling with full wings and 210 gallons in the trunk; I was completing preflight checks in the cockpit when I heard a whooshing sound and smelled jet fuel. I observed fuel running in a heavy stream from the left wing outboard sniffle valve. I removed electrical power and had the GPU shut down. We notified the FBO; CFR and our Chief Pilot. The FBO provided a trash can in which we caught about 3 gallons of fuel. A mechanic working on another BE400 nearby manipulated the sniffle valve until the flow stopped. Fire response applied absorbent to the fuel spill and swept it up.I'm not sure of the cause. The ramp was inclined somewhat toward the left wing; but not abnormally. The sun was out and heating the ramp; causing heat shimmering; but it was by no means a hot day. Temperature on the ramp was around 60 degrees F. My best guess is a malfunction of the sniffle valve itself; because manipulating the valve stopped the flow.

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	937459
Time
Date	201102
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Beechjet 400
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Parked
Component
Aircraft Component	Fuel Storage System
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor

Following fueling the captain of a be-400 detected substantial amounts of fuel leaking from the left wing 'sniffle' valve. Crash fire rescue equipment was called for hazardous material control and a nearby mechanic was able to manipulate the valve to stop the leak.