"Crash Course in Density"
As flight 143, a twin engine 767, was passing over Red Lake on its was to Edmonton,
Canada, the left front fuel pump warning light went on. There were a few possibilities
for this to happen, such as the fuel pump failing, a fuel line clogging, or a empty fuel
tank. The former two were easily dealt with, since the plane could fly without one fuel
pump. However, the last possibility was horrifying. After a few minutes, the second
fuel pump in the left wing began to blare. It would be too much of a coincidence for two
fuel pumps to independently fail, or two fuel lines to independently clog, so it was
apparent that the left tank was out of fuel.
Quickly, the pilots decided that getting to Edmonton was out of the question. The
nearest large airport was at Winnipeg, so they radioed ahead and changed their course.
In a few minutes, all four of the fuel pumps had failed. The worst possible news, they
were out of fuel. In a few more minutes the engines stopped running, and all of the high
tech instruments became useless.
They realized that they could not even make it to Winnipeg. Their only chance was an
abandoned to a abandoned Air Force airstrip. Unfortunately, the airstrip had been
converted to a race track, complete with race cars, fences, and spectators. The 767
crash landed, and, fortunately, no one was killed.
Their were many contributing factors that made this plane run out of fuel. First of
all, the computerized fuel gauge was not working, and a maintenance worker said ,
incorrectly, that the plane was still certified to fly. To measure the amount of fuel
remaining, they use a drip stick method. They discovered that their was 7 682 liters in
the tank. However, they had always measured fuel in the past as pound, while the 767
consumed fuel in kilograms. The drip sticks did not express the amount of fuel in pounds
or kilograms, but in liters. It seems to be a simple matter of conversion to arrive a
the answer. All they needed to know was how many kilograms were in a liter. Someone
said 1.77, and they calculated the value they needed. However, the conversion of 1.77
was not Kilograms per liter, but pounds per liter. The actual value it .803. They were
off by more than 50%. This problem would have been avoided if they had kept track of the
units during the conversion. That is why it is always important to keep track of the
units.
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