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20241216019549I

Incident · No damage
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FAA incident report · Bombardier BD-500-1A11 · Toronto · December 16, 2024

FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal

Date
December 16, 2024 · 09:55 local
Place
Toronto
Airport
MontréAl–Trudeau International
Phase of flight
Cruise/Level Flight
Operating rules
Foreign air carrier (Part 129)
Operator
ARNF
Damage
No damage
Aircraft
C-GVDP
Reported as
Bombardier BD-500-1A11
People aboard
130
Fatal injuries
0
Other injuries
0

From the FAA’s Accident/Incident Data System (AIDS), through its Aviation Safety Information Portal, as reported. The NTSB investigates accidents separately, and its record of an accident is the fuller one. The aircraft is matched to the registry by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

What happened

The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.

Once level at FL340 (around an 1:30 total time in flight) the crew got a fuel imbalance caution message come up on the eicas. The qrh was followed, and it was noticed the right tank was around 500KG down on the fuel. All other parameters appeared normal. A number of fuel calculations were made to determine if there was a fuel leak or not, but they were not able to confirm. Out of an abundance of caution, in the event it was actually a fuel leak, the decision was made to find a suitable airport to divert to. Based on wind direction and fuel the decision was made to divert to yyz at the time the flight was around sault st-marie. During this time maybe 15 min after the start of diversion the crew received and advisory message the eicas saying : fuel ctr xfr fault and at the same time an amber arrow between the centre tank and the right tank. At this moment the fuel imbalance was around a 1000 kg between the two wings tank

After landing the crew had a conference call with the chief dispatcher, chief pilot, duty pilot, chief moc and corporate safety to review the situation and to be able to answer all the questions. Maintenance found the aircraft had a transfer float valve failure which caused the issue and the diversion.

As the FAA filed it

ONCE LEVEL AT FL340 (AROUND AN 1:30 TOTAL TIME IN FLIGHT) THE CREW GOT A FUEL IMBALANCE CAUTION MESSAGE COME UP ON THE EICAS. THE QRH WAS FOLLOWED, AND IT WAS NOTICED THE RIGHT TANK WAS AROUND 500KG DOWN ON THE FUEL. ALL OTHER PARAMETERS APPEARED NORMAL. A NUMBER OF FUEL CALCULATIONS WERE MADE TO DETERMINE IF THERE WAS A FUEL LEAK OR NOT, BUT THEY WERE NOT ABLE TO CONFIRM. OUT OF AN ABUNDANCE OF CAUTION, IN THE EVENT IT WAS ACTUALLY A FUEL LEAK, THE DECISION WAS MADE TO FIND A SUITABLE AIRPORT TO DIVERT TO. BASED ON WIND DIRECTION AND FUEL THE DECISION WAS MADE TO DIVERT TO YYZ AT THE TIME THE FLIGHT WAS AROUND SAULT ST-MARIE. DURING THIS TIME MAYBE 15 MIN AFTER THE START OF DIVERSION THE CREW RECEIVED AND ADVISORY MESSAGE THE EICAS SAYING : FUEL CTR XFR FAULT AND AT THE SAME TIME AN AMBER ARROW BETWEEN THE CENTRE TANK AND THE RIGHT TANK. AT THIS MOMENT THE FUEL IMBALANCE WAS AROUND A 1000 KG BETWEEN THE TWO WINGS TANK

AFTER LANDING THE CREW HAD A CONFERENCE CALL WITH THE CHIEF DISPATCHER, CHIEF PILOT, DUTY PILOT, CHIEF MOC AND CORPORATE SAFETY TO REVIEW THE SITUATION AND TO BE ABLE TO ANSWER ALL THE QUESTIONS. MAINTENANCE FOUND THE AIRCRAFT HAD A TRANSFER FLOAT VALVE FAILURE WHICH CAUSED THE ISSUE AND THE DIVERSION.