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A B737-800 crossfeed valve failed in the open position causing fuel to feed only from the left tank when tank to engine was selected so an emergency was declared and the flight diverted to an enroute airport.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 983883 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201112 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.ARTCC |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | B737-800 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Cruise |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Fuel Crossfeed |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | First Officer Pilot Not Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical |
Narrative:
At cruise we opened the crossfeed valve to feed out of center tank to zero then go back to main tank feed. The crossfeed valve transition light never came on but the valve worked. When we closed the crossfeed valve the transition light again didn't work. As time went on the fuel all fed out of the left side. We balanced the fuel but when we went to tank to engine feed again it was coming out of left main again. We called maintenance and with them verified the crossfeed valve circuit breaker was popped out. Seemed like crossfeed valve was stuck open and feed was out of left tank. We decided to divert to an enroute airport. We balanced the fuel between the left and right tanks on the way and landed balanced. We declared an emergency to get priority handling. Maintenance suspected a crossfeed valve actuator and was going to replace that. We took the plane out the next day. No way to avoid event. Just monitoring the systems prevented anything from really happening.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A B737-800 crossfeed valve failed in the open position causing fuel to feed only from the left tank when tank to engine was selected so an emergency was declared and the flight diverted to an enroute airport.
Narrative: At cruise we opened the crossfeed valve to feed out of center tank to zero then go back to main tank feed. The crossfeed valve transition light never came on but the valve worked. When we closed the crossfeed valve the transition light again didn't work. As time went on the fuel all fed out of the left side. We balanced the fuel but when we went to tank to engine feed again it was coming out of left main again. We called Maintenance and with them verified the crossfeed valve circuit breaker was popped out. Seemed like crossfeed valve was stuck open and feed was out of left tank. We decided to divert to an enroute airport. We balanced the fuel between the left and right tanks on the way and landed balanced. We declared an emergency to get priority handling. Maintenance suspected a crossfeed valve actuator and was going to replace that. We took the plane out the next day. No way to avoid event. Just monitoring the systems prevented anything from really happening.
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.