Firefighters Respond To Military Jet Fuel Spill
At approximately 3:15 pm on Monday [Jan 20] the Bermuda Fire & Rescue Service responded to a report of a fuel spill at the L. F. Wade International Airport, which was caused by one of the visiting RAF military aircraft. Eleven firefighters responded to the scene, and it took nearly two hours to complete the cleanup.
Watch Commander David DeCouto of the Airport Division stated that “there was a large fuel spill approximately 40’ x 30’ caused by a Lockheed L-1011 Military Aircraft. We responded to the incident with 6 vehicles staffed with 11 firefighters.
“When the duty crew arrived on scene they used Sphag Sorb absorbent to help remove the fuel from the tarmac. Once the fuel was removed, degreasers where applied to the area to help restore it to its original state. It took the duty crew nearly two hours to complete the cleanup.”
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Category: Accidents and fires, All, News
Her Majesty’s Royal Airforce will be footing this bill one would hope.
I was the engineer on that aircraft. The spill was caused by the airport refueller whom when disconnecting from the aircraft, had not shut off the pressure to his refuelling vehicle. As he removed the hoses, the second connector on the vehicles’ hose failed to seal. Fuel came at full pressure all over the refueller and my aircraft. One of my team hit the emergency stop on the vehicle showing quick thinking. And yes, the cheeky so and so’s charged us for the fuel lol. Firstly the refueller was unhurt after a good shower, and much more unimportantly the aircraft suffered no long term damage.
Bill?..what bill?..we have no idea what you are talking about old boy!
“6 vehicles staffed with 11 firefighters” that is less than 2 people per vehicle.
How can the spill be caused by an aircraft. Human error causes these problems…where was the human error?
Just for clarification purposes, this fuel spill had nothing to do with any mechanical issue with the L1011 Tristar. Rather it was the malfunction of the fueling equipment that resulted in this spill.
The same thing could have happened if the refueling equipment was hooked up to a Delta Airlines, US Airways or any other commercial operator who would have been using it at that time.
Before commenting as to who is going to pay, I would suggest that you at least get your facts straight as to what actually caused the fuel spill.
I can agree with the above comment as I was a witness to the incident and the fuel spill occurred after the fuel truck was disconnected from the aircraft.
Do we report news or make news ?
So. from the plane or the ground?? Both have pumps and check systems. And both have humans working, and both have procedures. At 35000 feet it would evaporate, on the ground it requires a clean up
At the nozzle
Well, that says a lot about the competent “Bermudians” verkas.
Now, why has Watch Commander David DeCouto accused ‘ that “there was a large fuel spill approximately 40’ x 30’ caused by a Lockheed L-1011 Military Aircraft.”‘ What I read here is that this David DeCouto is trying to blame the Lockheed crew of the spill where in reality it is the direct result of incompetent ground crew and faulty (read non-maintained) equipment.??? What are we to believe here?… me think the latter.