A B737-700 flight crew took off with cold soaked fuel frost (CSFF) adhering to the top surface of the wing. The frost was not visible during a preflight inspection which occurred prior to boarding fuel for the subsequent flight.

2011-12 · NASA ASRS report 984313

Date: 2011-12 · Aircraft: B737-700 · Phase: takeoff

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

Synopsis

A B737-700 flight crew took off with cold soaked fuel frost (CSFF) adhering to the top surface of the wing. The frost was not visible during a preflight inspection which occurred prior to boarding fuel for the subsequent flight.

Narrative

On deplaning at our destination; a deadheading company pilot advised me that we had taken off with cold soaked fuel frost [(CSFF)] on the top of the wing.I had done an inspection from the jetway stairs approximately ten minutes after arrival on the previous leg and found no evidence of frozen condensation. It had been a short flight to that lasted 1 hour 23 minutes at 32;000 FT. Ambient temperature on the ground was 61F and fuel tank temperature was slightly above 0C. We boarded 30;000 LBS of fuel for our departure. The non-revving pilot told me what he witnessed and went on to say that he believed it to have been liquid condensation until we became airborne and the liquid did not run off.Not much more could have been done to prevent this incident. All Company procedures were complied with. Maybe Boeing; in conjunction with the FAA; needs to come up with some operational relief for CSFF. Obviously; there are scenarios where current procedures and detection methods cannot guarantee that CSFF has been mitigated.

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

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