A B767 PILOT JUSTIFIES AN ADDITIONAL 1500 LBS OF FUEL ADDED ON AN INTL FLT WITH WX AND FLT DELAYS.

2008-07 · NASA ASRS report 798334

Date: 2008-07 · Aircraft: B767-200 · Phase: ground

Anomalies: deviation-discrepancy-procedural-published-material-policy

Synopsis

A B767 PILOT JUSTIFIES AN ADDITIONAL 1500 LBS OF FUEL ADDED ON AN INTL FLT WITH WX AND FLT DELAYS.

Narrative

I OPTED TO ADD 1500 LBS OF FUEL FOR THIS FLT. SOME OF THE FACTORS LEADING TO THAT DECISION WERE: SOFT TARMAC AT ZZZ AND HIGH GROSS TKOF WT MADE SINGLE-ENG TAXI IMPRACTICAL. ALTHOUGH DISPATCH RPTED TO ME AN AVERAGE OF 20 MINS OF TAXI TIME FOR RECENT DEPS; MY EXPERIENCE FOR OUR TIME-FRAME WAS CLOSER TO 45 MINS. FINALLY; HAVING NEVER FLOWN TO ZZZZ; I DECIDED TO ADD A BIT OF FUEL FOR POSSIBLE INEFFICIENCIES ON MY PART; OWING TO CONSERVATIVE (EARLY) DSCNTS AND EARLY FLAP AND LNDG GEAR EXTENSION. IN FACT; TAXI BREAKAWAY THRUST WAS HIGH WITH 2-ENGS (AT OR NEAR 70%); AND WOULD HAVE BEEN DANGEROUS; IF NOT IMPOSSIBLE WITH ONE. OUR TAXI TIME WAS OVER 40 MINS. THE FLT ITSELF WENT AS PLANNED; AT MACH .80/FL370; ON THE FILED TRACK. STILL; THE ENRTE BURN WAS 1500 LBS OVER THE FLT PLAN. ON THE APCH TO ZZZZ; LEVEL 1 RAIN SHOWERS AND TSTMS WERE SCATTERED AROUND THE ARPT. WE WERE GIVEN A 5 MIN HOLD AT AN IAP; AT 200 KTS ASSIGNED. WE NEEDED FLAPS 5 DEGS AND ENG ANTI-ICE DURING THE ENTIRE APCH. UPON ARR; OUR FUEL WAS 14700 LBS. THIS IS ADEQUATE; OWING TO THE ADDED FUEL. IN TOTAL; OUR FUEL BURN EXCEEDED THE PLANNED BURN BY 2700 LBS. AS USUAL; THE AUTOMATED FLT PLAN'S FUEL BURN STARTS OUT VERY ACCURATE; AND DIVERGES IN A MORE OR LESS LINEAR FASHION; OWING TO ATC DELAYS; WX VARIANCES AND THE GENERAL AGE AND CONDITION OF THE AIRFRAMES AND POWERPLANTS OF OUR LESS THAN NEW FLEET. THE FLT CREW DETERMINED THAT THIS FLT; JUST LIKE EVERY OTHER FLT WOULD INCLUDE EXTERNAL FACTORS WHICH WOULD RENDER THE FUEL BURN/FLT TIME CALCULATIONS USEFUL; BUT FAR FROM PERFECT. I ADDED AN APPROPRIATE AMOUNT OF FUEL FOR THE CONDITIONS; THEREBY PERFECTING THE ALREADY VERY GOOD COMPUTERIZED FLT PLAN CALCULATIONS; AS WE ALL USUALLY DO. IN THIS WAY; WE (DAILY) KEEP THE OP SAFER AND PROVIDE OURSELVES AND OUR PAX A BETTER CHANCE OF COMPLETING OUR FLTS TO THE ORIGINALLY INTENDED DEST; ON TIME AND WITH SAFETY. EXPERIENCE AND TRAINING AVERTED A POTENTIALLY COMPROMISED INFLT SITUATION; WHILE WE WERE STILL SAFELY ON THE GND; THE VERY JOB DESCRIPTION OF 'PIC.' NO BIG DEAL; WHEN THE SYS IS ALLOWED TO WORK AS IT HAS FOR OVER 100 YRS. IN GENERAL; 'EVENTS' SUCH AS THIS ONE OCCUR DAILY; ESPECIALLY WITH THE INTL OP. AS ARE MOST DECISIONS; THIS FUEL SITUATION WAS HANDLED PROFESSIONALLY AND CORDIALLY BTWN THE DISPATCHER AND MYSELF; WITH THE CONSULTATION AND CONSENT OF THE FO AND SO. THE POINT OF THIS REPORT IS TO ILLUSTRATE A COUPLE OF THINGS: FACTORS WHICH DO NOT APPEAR ON THE FLT PLAN AFFECT FUEL PLANNING AND MUST BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT BY THE PIC. SECONDLY; THE THREAT THAT DECISIONS OF THE KIND DESCRIBED HEREIN MIGHT LEAD TO EXTRA-CONTRACTUAL AND ILL-CONCEIVED 'TRAINING' WILL NOT AFFECT THE ULTIMATE DECISION FOR SAFETY; MADE BY THE PIC; HOWEVER IT IS A DISTR AND POSSIBLE IMPEDIMENT TO SAFETY; AS WELL AS BEING COMPLETELY COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE. LET THE PLTS AND DISPATCHERS PLAN AND EXECUTE THE FLYING. LET TRAINING MGR AND THE FLT TRAINING DEPT TRAIN; RATHER THAN BE AN ARM OF ENFORCEMENT. LET TRAINING MGR REMAIN SAFELY IN HIS OFFICE; THINKING BACK TO A TIME WHEN HE WOULD HAVE DEARLY LOVED TO HAVE A BIT MORE FUEL.

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

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