Fuel leak undisclosed.. how should I handle this?

U

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I'm low time on the eve of my check ride for my PPL. I went this morning to have a general review flight.

Pre-flight was fine, no anomalies. We take-off for closed traffic for a few landings. On my second short field, I had the hint of fuel odor but didn’t think much of it because the tanks were full and on occasion in the past I've seen them vent a little bit. Not unusual.

We depart the area, odor disappears. We head to another airport to practice Engine-outs. The CFI chops the power, I configure accordingly on the descent the odor comes back. I cant see anything coming from my vent tube, glance out the windows to see if one of the fuel drains under the wing may be leaking.. all looks fine. We break off the landing and head for home. Again, on final to touchdown the fuel odor is enough to knock you out. We park & shut-down and I immediately climb up top to see if I forgot a fuel cap. Both are secure. No signs of staining anywhere. Interior is dry but stinks. The CFI grounds the plane back with dispatch. We finish up and I head out.

On the way home, I call dispatch to confirm I cut the fuel selector so it doesn’t create more of an issue. The dispatcher informs me "sure, I'll run out and check, oh I spoke with "school operator" and she said she was aware of the leak and she's sending it out to maintenance tomorrow to have it taken care of". I thank him.. hang up the phone. A couple seconds later... my brain snaps out of a 100LL induced fog...
Wait... she KNEW about it??

I'm a low time student. I don't claim to know jack about jack in terms of renting airplanes or running a 141 school, but obviously the ball was dropped here somewhere and I'm curious how I approach her (the owner). There is no way my CFI was aware of the issue. There were plenty of other planes we could have taken. He's grounded equipment for alot less in the past. I have a call into my CFI to discuss the matter as well.

Right now I'm feeling like I want her head on a post. Am I exaggerating the issue?
 
This close to the check ride I'd not say any thing. they tell you to take a hike, you'er going to spend a lot f bucks getting back ready to take the ride.

After the ride I'd pitch a fit.
 
At this point your knowledge of the operator's knowledge is second hand. You don't KNOW exactly what the operator said, and it may have been misinterpreted / accidentally misrepresented. No reason to get all angry YET.
 
Henning said:
What did you use specifically to qualify it as a grounding hazard?
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Actually he used common sense, Would you fly any aircraft with gas fumes in the cockpit?
 
Yeah, it happens depending on why I smell it and if I can fix the problem by securing the prime pump better. Or perhaps it is some overfill residue that ran under the wing root fairing. That's gonna stink, but since it's residue evaporating away, my choice would be to increase ventilation and press on diluting the gas further below LEL and toxic concentration while increasing evaporation and dissipation of smell.
 
With all respect intended, with 51hrs under my belt, I wasn't going to be too curious. I completed what examination(s) my comfort level permitted, after not seeing anything coming from the tank vent under the wing, not seeing anything coming out of my tank sump drains, double checking that the primer was secured and my CFI cycling the fuel tank selector. Fuel odor still very present, my CFI didn’t have to tell me twice to head for home and let the appropriate folks handle it. Once we tied down, we did not find anything to indicate an external leak. I even went back and double checked the strainer under dipstick door to make sure I hadn't done something to it on my pre-flight and everything appeared (and smelled) normal.

One thing is for certain. I won't be flying that particular airplane again until I see it signed off in the log book by the mechanics and I'm glad this didn't happen on my check ride.


As always, happy for the feedback to gain the education.
 
Good choices on your part. For now you should focus on your checkride, and probably not take that plane with the examiner. :)

Once you get the checkride out of the way, have a calm and knowledge-building chat with the operator. Maybe also check with the mechanic to find out what was up.

And you can *always* check the airframe and engine logs before you fly. In fact when it comes time to do that checkride, better have done that ahead of time for your aircraft.

Anyhow, good call. If you smell fuel, you're never wrong to err on the side of caution.
 
Oh, and I own my plane and had a similar situation once. Was the fuel selector valve itself that was leaking. It was actually very little fuel that leaked, but the odor was pretty overwhelming.
 
The last time we had a significant fuel leak smell, while hunting it down (found old hoses between wing root and cabin and replaced, one of the bladder tanks also gave up the ghost.

You didn't say what year and type of aircraft it was, so adding that comment in case it's got rubber holding all the go-juice in. :)
 
Unregistered said:
The dispatcher informs me "sure, I'll run out and check, oh I spoke with "school operator" and she said she was aware of the leak and she's sending it out to maintenance tomorrow to have it taken care of".
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Did said "school operator" know of the problem before your flight or was this person informed by the instructor after you got back?
 
Based on description, I'd say this was a Cessna 172. There is a SB for fuel lines under the headliner. Not enough information provided to determine if it's an affected model.

Agree that you should take another airplane to the checkride. Familiarize yourself with the maintenance logs aforetime.
 
Jaybird180 said:
Based on description, I'd say this was a Cessna 172. There is a SB for fuel lines under the headliner. Not enough information provided to determine if it's an affected model.
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Yes, probably a high-wing Cessna, and the fuel smell occurs when the airplane is pitched down. That tells me that the vent crossover tube is leaking at the short rubber hose connections. That tube is just aft of the front spar carrythough, above the headliner, and those hoses never get looked at in most airplanes. Cessna demands a check every 100 hours, which is a bit much, but annually is not a bad idea. I have found them totally rotten.

Dan
 
Concur it doesn't take much fuel to create a pretty strong odor. Had a very minimal leak in fuel sender gasket in my Mooney and smell was very strong, although no visible leakage.
 
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