B738, en-route, south of Kalgoorlie Australia, 2021

B738, en-route, south of Kalgoorlie Australia, 2021

Summary

On 25 October 2021, a Boeing 737-800 had just reached its cruise altitude after takeoff from Perth, Australia, when a fuel imbalance message was displayed. Despite specified indications for a fuel leak as the cause of this message not being met, it was determined that the left engine should be shut down. A ‘PAN’ was declared and a diversion to Kalgoorlie completed. Inspection there found the fuel imbalance was within normal limits and that crew diagnosis of a fuel leak had been flawed. Non-standard closure of the crossfeed valve was suspected as the origin of the imbalance.

Description

On 25 October 2021, the crew of a Boeing 737-800 (VH-VZT) operated by Qantas Airways on scheduled passenger service from Perth to Adelaide as QF888, which was being used for first officer line training, noted an indication of wing tank fuel imbalance en route in night visual meteorological conditions (VMC). After deciding the cause was a fuel leak, the crew shut down the left engine, declared a ‘PAN’ and diverted to Kalgoorlie without further developments, where an inspection found there was no fuel leak and the fuel system was serviceable.

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