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Vent: Caught a fuel leak on a 737 that the night crew missed
I was doing the morning walkaround on N312AB yesterday and saw a tiny wet spot near the left wing root. Turns out the flex hose on the crossfeed valve had a pinhole leak that was barely dripping. Has anyone else found something small like that that could've turned into a real problem on the next flight?
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logan_mitchell1mo ago
Honestly, I've seen a few of these tiny pinprick leaks on those crossfeed flex hoses. I had a similar thing on a 737 where the crew had written up "fuel smell in wheel well" but couldn't find anything during their inspection. I got a flashlight and a mirror and there it was, just a tiny wet line running down the hose. If you didn't catch that before a long leg, the dripping could have pooled on a hot component or worse, started spraying under pressure during a crossfeed operation. It's those "barely there" leaks that scare me more than the big ones because they're so easy to blow off as nothing.
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irisowens1mo ago
Used to blow those off myself, but @foster.jordan's point about fire risk and your story changed my whole view on pinhole leaks.
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Yeah I heard a guy say those pinhole leaks can catch fire real quick on takeoff.
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