Changes To Flight Manuals Would Have Stressed Safety

For over 10 years, the Federal Aviation Administration has failed to act on a recommendation to mandate changes to flight manuals that would, in theory, better prepare pilots to deal with fuel emergencies.

That comes from the Miami Herald, which also notes one in 10 nonfatal accidents since 2000 have involved some kind of fuel failure.

The National Transportation Safety Board recommended the flight manual changes following the 1990 loss of an Avianca Airlines 707 in Long Island, NY. Out of 158 persons onboard, 73 were killed when the plane's tanks ran dry.

The NTSB submitted its recommendation -- that flight manuals include mention of safe fuel practices, as well as when to declare an emergency -- to the FAA, the Herald reports. The FAA denied the request.

The agency says its guidelines on flying with ample fuel onboard are sufficient... and also common sense.

"We feel that the procedures that are in place... if they follow that they will never have a problem," said the FAA's Flight Standards Service Director Jim Ballough.

There is also evidence pilots may be pressured to overlook fueling requirements.

In 2003, two pilots were seriously injured when a Grand Aire Express Falcon 200 ditched in the Mississippi River, after it ran out of fuel holding for weather to clear at Lambert Field in St. Louis, MO.

In its Probable Cause report on that accident, the NTSB noted the pilots failed to divert to an alternate airport, or tell ATC they were running low on fuel.

The pilots told the safety board they were following SOP, however, as Grand Aire allegedly pushed pilots to fly on low levels of fuel.

The pilots also said company policy was to not buy fuel from noncontract vendors... and if a plane returned with above the minimum amount of fuel onboard, "They would get a call... reminding them they returned with too much fuel," pilot Saleem Iqbal told the NTSB.

"[L]ow fuel did not necessarily constitute declaring an emergency," added Iqbal, who recently field a lawsuit against Grand Aire claiming "debilitating injury" from the 2003 crash.

Even though you may not find the information in your plane's flight manual, it's important to remember: carry enough fuel to reach your destination (that should be a given) as well as sufficient reserves to get you to an alternate airport if necessary. Because when you need to do that... there are often precious few other options.

FMI: Brush Up On FARs 91.151 and 91.167