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An A320 developed about a 1;000 pound inter-tank fuel imbalance which also lowered the arrival fuel. After the crew refused a vector for minimum fuel ATC declared their emergency and gave a direct clearance.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 978035 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201111 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0001-0600 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.ARTCC |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | A320 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Cruise |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Fuel Quantity-Pressure Indication |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Captain Pilot Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue |
Narrative:
At cruise altitude of FL320 we noticed fuel 800-1;000 pounds indicating lower on the left wing tank; causing an arrival fuel to drop from 4.4 to 3.4. At this time ATC assigns a vector heading for traffic. I instructed the first officer to decline the heading due to 'minimum fuel' and cannot except any delays at this time. We did not declare an 'minimum fuel emergency' due to arrival fuel was above 30 minutes. We cross checked fuel burn and fuel on board to eliminate possible fuel leak; and continued with cross feeding. Approximately 2 minutes later left fuel tank started to increase fuel pounds; increasing to an arrival fuel of 4.4. ATC declared an emergency for us and gave us direct routing to our destination. We proceeded uneventfully; landed with 4.4 arrival fuel and were meet by maintenance at the gate. Unexplained fuel anomaly.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: An A320 developed about a 1;000 pound inter-tank fuel imbalance which also lowered the arrival fuel. After the crew refused a vector for minimum fuel ATC declared their emergency and gave a direct clearance.
Narrative: At cruise altitude of FL320 we noticed fuel 800-1;000 LBS indicating lower on the left wing tank; causing an arrival fuel to drop from 4.4 to 3.4. At this time ATC assigns a vector heading for traffic. I instructed the First Officer to decline the heading due to 'minimum fuel' and cannot except any delays at this time. We did not declare an 'minimum fuel emergency' due to arrival fuel was above 30 minutes. We cross checked fuel burn and fuel on board to eliminate possible fuel leak; and continued with cross feeding. Approximately 2 minutes later left fuel tank started to increase fuel LBS; increasing to an arrival fuel of 4.4. ATC declared an emergency for us and gave us direct routing to our destination. We proceeded uneventfully; landed with 4.4 arrival fuel and were meet by Maintenance at the gate. Unexplained fuel anomaly.
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.