Contaminated air fuel alert >>From AAP 23dec99 11.00am (AEDT) AVIATION safety authorities today issued an urgent nationwide alert to light aircraft operators over contaminated fuel. The Civil Aviation Safety Authority said the fuel had been traced following a recent Victorian incident when a light aircraft suffered engine failure just before take-off. "The take-off was aborted after the engine failed and the plane was taken back and the engine stripped back to discover what went wrong," spokesman Peter Gibson said. "They tracked back from that and found that the fuel had started corroding parts in the fuel system of the aircraft, the carburettor and the fuel system. "This was causing deposits in the engine which then caused the engine to fail," he told ABC radio. Mr Gibson said the contaminated fuel was traced to a depot at Yarraville in Melbourne's west and had been distributed to Moorabbin and Essendon airports during December and possibly late November. He said users of all light aircraft with piston engines should have their engines checked for deposits before flying the aircraft. Although the fuel was distributed in Melbourne, it was possible aircraft from interstate had refuelled with the fuel, then flown elsewhere in Australia and drained off surplus fuel for future use. Mr Gibson said it wasn't clear what the contamination was, but fuel tampering was not suspected at this stage. "It's clearly a contamination of a chemical nature. You can't see it. The fuel looks normal but what it does is corrodes brass and rubber parts in the fuel system and then that causes deposits in the engine." >>From the ABC Nationwide alert over contaminated plane fuel The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) has issued a near nationwide alert for some light-planes to be grounded because of contaminated fuel. The problem can cause engine failure in mid-flight. A contaminant in a batch of AV-GAS 100 130 from the Mobil refinery at Altona near Melbourne has been found to cause a sticky black substance in the engine and fuel system. The Altona refinery supplies fuel to light planes including Cessnas and Chieftains - across south-eastern Australia. Already one plane reported engine failure when taking off from Melbourne's Moorabbin Airport yesterday and the Royal Victorian Aero Club has now grounded its entire fleet. Mobil is yet to isolate the cause of the problem but it appears to have begun a month ago. The Authority's Director of Aviation Safety Mick Toller says all planes which use the fuel must be checked or grounded. "If in doubt, if you think you've used this fuel, bought this fuel - don't fly," he said. Courier Mail Light aircraft engine failure fear By MADONNA CAMERON 24dec99 LIGHT aircraft throughout Australia face potential engine failure because of contaminated aviation fuel distributed at Victorian airports. The Civil Aviation Safety Authority said the contaminated fuel, which has already caused one case of engine failure, could not be traced and may have been dispersed interstate. CASA said Avgas 100/130 distributed by Mobil and BP could cause a sticky black residue to form in the fuel system of piston-engined planes resulting in failure. It is believed contamination during the fuel's production at Mobil's Altona plant in Melbourne could be responsible for the problem. The fault has been blamed for the recent emergency landing of a single-engine aircraft by a student pilot at Melbourne's Moorabbin Airport after an engine failure soon after take-off. CASA spokesman Peter Gibson said yesterday Queensland light aircraft also were at risk because Mobil could not identify which fuel batches were contaminated, where they have been distributed or the cause of the contamination. "Mobil have done their normal tests and their normal tests don't show anything," he said. The problem was found after investigators of the Moorabbin incident detected a black sticky substance in the plane's fuel system, which was traced to the fuel supplier. Bureau of Air Safety Investigation deputy director Alan Stray said the bureau had received one official report of an aviation incident which listed contaminated fuel as the cause. The report has sparked a flurry of similar complaints after CASA issued a warning about the fuel to aircraft owners and operators. "If you use this fuel, check your aircraft, because there is the potential, over a number of hours, for engine failure," Mr Gibson said. "Check your fuel filter. If a residue is found, the fuel system will need to be stripped down and the fuel replaced with Shell Avgas which is safe." CASA said it was not necessary to ground aircraft "because it's up to the pilot at the end of the day to decide if it's safe to fly". Late yesterday Mobil announced they have suspended the sale of Avgas at all airports in Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales until further notice. Mr Stray said the jet fuel used by commercial airlines was not affected. Safety body grounds all light aircraft after fuel fears >>From AAP 24dec99 11.00am (AEDT) MELBOURNE: All light aircraft in Australia were today grounded by the aviation safety body pending checks over potentially dangerous contaminated fuel. The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) said it had issued an "airworthiness directive" to all light aircraft operators over the fuel, which has already caused one aborted take-off. Spokesman Peter Gibson said the directive required all aircraft to be checked for the contaminated fuel by a qualified maintenance engineer. He said if the contaminated fuel were found, certain steps must be taken to clean the engine. Since news of the contaminated fuel was released yesterday, Mr Gibson said CASA had received numerous reports from around Australia of light aircraft with engines running roughly. However, there had been no further incidents reported, he said. Mr Gibson said the directive had been faxed to aircraft operators around Australia and posted on the Internet. He said the nature of the contamination of the fuel remained a mystery. Sales of aviation gasoline (avgas) supplied from Mobil's Yarraville terminal in Melbourne were suspended yesterday at all airports in Victoria, NSW and southern Queensland until further notice. Mr Gibson said the fuel was traced to a Mobil depot at Yarraville in Melbourne's west and had been distributed to Moorabbin and Essendon airports in December and possibly late November. "It's clearly a contamination of a chemical nature. You can't see it," Mr Gibson said. "The fuel looks normal but what it does is corrode brass and rubber parts in the fuel system and then that causes deposits in the engine." Mobil said in a statement that it was meeting CASA and technical experts to review the situation. A number of avgas aircraft fuel system problems had been reported to the company over the past several days, a Mobil spokesman said. The reports related primarily to light aircraft using avgas supplied at Moorabbin airport. Aircraft using jet fuel were not affected, he said. Authorities were alerted to the problem after a recent Victorian incident in which a light aircraft suffered engine failure before take-off. "The take-off was aborted after the engine failed and the plane was taken back and the engine stripped back to discover what went wrong," spokesman Peter Gibson said. "They tracked back from that and found that the fuel had started corroding parts in the fuel system of the aircraft - the carburettor and the fuel system. "This was causing deposits in the engine which then caused the engine to fail," he said. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Web Page AD/GENERAL/77 Suspect Fuel 2/2000 TX http://www.casa.gov.au/aw_std/AD/GENERAL/GENERAL/Gen-077.htm >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>