AFTER TKOF FROM FPO; A BE99 FLC RECEIVED A FIREWALL FUEL VALVE WARNING. WHEN THE FLC ASKED THE TWR CTLR FOR PRIORITY BACK TO THE ARPT; THEY WERE TOLD THAT THEY WERE #2 OR #3 FOR LNDG. THEY DECLARED AN EMER IN ORDER TO GET AN IMMEDIATE CLRNC TO LAND.

Date: 1996-03 · Aircraft: Airliner 99

Anomalies: aircraft-equipment-problem-critical

Synopsis

AFTER TKOF FROM FPO; A BE99 FLC RECEIVED A FIREWALL FUEL VALVE WARNING. WHEN THE FLC ASKED THE TWR CTLR FOR PRIORITY BACK TO THE ARPT; THEY WERE TOLD THAT THEY WERE #2 OR #3 FOR LNDG. THEY DECLARED AN EMER IN ORDER TO GET AN IMMEDIATE CLRNC TO LAND.

Narrative

WE DEPARTED FREEPORT AND THE R FIREWALL FUEL VALVE HANDLE LIT UP. WE TOOK THE NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS AND ADVISED FREEPORT TWR WE WANTED PRIORITY LNDG! SHE ADVISED US OF AN ACFT 20 MI OUT AND THAT WE WERE #2 OR #3. WE JUST TOOK OFF AND SHE REALLY GAVE US THE RUNAROUND. MY SUGGESTION IS TO SEE WHY FREEPORT HAS NON RADAR ENVIRONMENTS. THIS ISLAND IS JUST WAITING FOR AN ACCIDENT TO HAPPEN! ONE TIME FREEPORT TWR CLRED US TO LAND BECAUSE HE HEARD US FLY OVER THE TWR. BY THE WAY THE ENG WAS OK AND CHKED BY MAINT HRS LATER. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE CTLR WOULD NOT GIVE PRIORITY TO THIS RPTR'S ACFT OVER THE L101 WITHOUT AN EMER DECLARATION; SO THE FLC RETURNED TO LAND AT FPO AFTER DECLARING AN EMER. ON SHORT FINAL AT ABOUT 300 FT; THE LIGHT EXTINGUISHED. INVESTIGATION BY MAINT FOUND WATER ON THE PHOTO SENSITIVE CELL THAT IS PART OF THE DETECTION SYS. RPTR REITERATED CONCERNS ABOUT FREEPORT AND NOT TRUSTING THEIR HANDLING OF TFC. HE HAS EVEN HEARD CHILDREN SCREAMING IN THE BACKGROUND OF TWR XMISSIONS AND THINKS THAT THIS KIND OF CTLR DISTR COULD BE A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR TO AN ACCIDENT.

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.