The consequences of placing the incorrect grade or type of fuel in an
aircraft are very serious. This situation is referred to as
"misfueling". In General Aviation (GA), where the majority of
aircraft are fueled over-the-wing, there is a significant risk of misfueling
which can lead to vapor lock, ignition failure or total engine failure.
However, following proper safety measures will prevent potential
disaster.
The National Air Transportation Association (NATA) has launched the
"Safety 1st Misfueling Prevention Program: Awareness Training for Line
Service Professionals, FBO Managers, Customer Service Representatives and
Pilots".
http://nata.aero/Education-and-Training/Misfueling-Prevention-Program.aspx
The program includes short videos that provide education about simple steps
that can be taken to prevent misfuelings. A quiz follows the video presentation,
after which individuals who pass can print a certificate of completion. NATA
says the program is not intended to be a comprehensive training program, which
must be completed before individuals attempt to fuel an aircraft. But it covers
essential elements that serve as a good primer for those in each outlined job
category.
The “Big Three”
NATA focuses on what it calls the Big Three items required to get the right
fuel into aircraft every time: Proper fuel orders, the use of selective spouts,
and grade verification.
Let's take a moment to focus on spouts. Industry standards and best
practices require that selective spouts be installed on all aviation overwing
nozzles, which in essence are designed to prevent jet fuel from being
inadvertently put into aircraft requiring Avgas.
The Jet A Wide Oval Spout, also known as duckbill or J-Spout, is designed so
it cannot be placed into most fuel openings for Avgas powered aircraft.
However, some Avgas aircraft may not have restricted size filler ports.
Other exceptions potentially include helicopters. So the
selective spouts only provide a layer of protection against misfueling; they
are not fail-safe. It is up to the ground fuel handler to make sure they have
covered the big three fueling checks before dispensing the fuel into the
aircraft.
There are no exceptions to
these checks.
One interesting point of the NATA online
presentation is that if you want to use jet fuel, but need to use a round
spout, the round spout can only be used temporarily. And it must be immediately
removed after use. This is a very
important practice to prevent any mistakes during the next refueling.
Additional Safety Practices
One additional layer of protection that is found in the field for Aviation
nozzles is the use of colored nozzle handles. Black handles are in place
for nozzles using Jet fuel. Red handles depict nozzles that dispense Avgas. Hewitt
always asks customers about the type of fuel to be dispensed and the handle-color
required before orders for nozzles are entered.
An additional resource with detailed information on preventing misfuelings
is NATA Safety 1st eToolKit which is available at the following link.
http://nata.aero/data/files/safety%201st%20documents/etoolkit/safety1st%20etoolkit_24_%20jul-aug%202006.pdf.
Information on Husky /Hewitt nozzles can be found at
www.husky.com.
Be sure to check out our Osprey and
Eagle Nozzles.
